UPO~ the earth r!

irl r c % 111 nallons wlth prplexlw: the a l o d the warn (the mwlrsr, dl<ronlenlnl) r a ~ ~ l t t gmcn'e
; hmtrt* falllni llN.111 f@v,lr:tr rnll lor l o o k b ;e th
' a l n t 3 armlnu a w n thr earlh (soclew). for the pmsn of the heavens ~ m l n l a s t l c b m , SIISI, ue soaken
k n mB
I~O that the KincJom uf Qod
.. .
L .$'hod'LooL ~p, 1ltI I@ lour be&, rejob. tor lour nrlemptlon drareth nigh.-JlalL
When se spe 1ltt.w Il111e. I,,j:it~ 18, ,.,,I,,+. t4,
24:33: 3Lrk 13: 29: Luke ?! ~ 5 . 5 -
..
 THIS JOURNAL AND ITS SACRED MISSIGN
:ournal is one of the prime factors or instruments in the aystem of Bible instruction, or "Seminary Extension", now belng
presented In all parts of the civilized world by the WATCHT o w ~ uBIBLE & TRACTSOCIOTX, charkerecl A. D. l X X 4 , "For the Pro-
motion of Christian 1<nowledpew. I t not only serves a s a class room where Bible stutlents may meet in the study of +Ire clibine Word but
also a s a channel of co;:r::~ur~icr~tionthrongh whlch they may be r ~ a c h e dwith a~~i~onncementsof the Society's co~ventionsand of the
coming of its trnveling rci~rerrentativee, styled "Pilgrims", and refreshed with reports of it# ronventlons.
Our "Berean Lwsonn" are topical rehearsals or revlews of our Society's publislled STUDIESmost entertainingly arranged, and very
helpful to all who would merit the oi~lyhonorary degree which the Society nccvrds, viz., ferbi Dei JlittDter (V. D. Af.), which translated
Into Knglish is Mitciater of God's Word. Our treatment of the International Sunday School Zessons is specially for the older Bible
students and teachers. By some this feature is considered indispensable.
This journal stands iirmly for the defense of the only true foundatlon of the Christian's hope now beinc so generally repudiated
-redemption through the precious blood of "the man Christ Jeaus, who gave himself a rarcaorn [ a corresponding price, a substitute] for
all". (1ILeter 1:19 ; 1 T11:1othy 2 :G) Building up on this sure foundation the golil, silver and precious stones (1 Corlnthlnns 3: 11-
been hid in God, ...
16 ; 2 I'eter 1:5-11) of the Word of God, its further mission is to "make all aef~what is the fellowship of the mystery which.
to the intent t h a t now m k h t be made known by the church the manifold wisdom of God"-"which
.has
in other ages
.
was not made known unto the sons of men M it is now revealed".-Ephesians 3: 5-9.10.
It stands free from all parties, sects and creeds of men. whlle it seek8 more and more to bring its every utterance into fullest
subjection to the will of God in Christ, aa expressed in the holy Bcripturea. It is thlis free t o declare boldly whatxoever the Lord
hatit spoken--according to the divlne wlsdom granted unto us to understand hls utterancSes. I t s attltude i s not clogtualic, i~irtconfltient:
for we Itnow wliereof we ailinn, treading with iml~licitfnlth upon the sure promises of God. I t is held a s a trust, to be uvetl only In 11i.r
service; hence our decisions relative to what mag and what may not appear In i t s columns milrt be nccordlng to our judgment of his
good plensure, the teaching of his Word, for the upbuild4ng of bls people In grace and knowledge. And we not only invite but urge o w
readers t o prove all its utterances by the infallible Word to which reference is constantly made t o facilitate such testing.
TO US THE SCRIPTURE8 CLEARLY TEACH
Chat the church is "the temple of the living God", peculiarly "hls workmanship" ; t h a t It8 construction has been i n progr-8 tbroughoub
a the gospel a g e e v e r since Christ became the world's Redeemer and the Chief Corner Stone of his temple, through which, when
finished, God's blessing shall come "to all people", and they flnd access t o him.-1 Corinthiand 3: 16. 17 ; Ephesians 2 :20-22;
Genesis 28 :14 ; Galatians 3 :29.
That meantime the chiseling, shaping, and polishing of consecrated believers In Christ's atonement for sin, progresses ; and when the
last of these "Ifsing stones", "elect and preclous," sball have been made ready, the great h l ~ ~ t Workmnn
er will hring all together
in the first resurrection ; and the temple shall be filled with his glory, and be the meeting place between God and men throughout
the Alil1ennium.-Revelation 16 :6-8.
T h a t the basis of hope, for the church and the world, lies in the fact that "Jesus Christ, by the grace of God, tasted death for every
man," "a ransorn for all," and will be "the true light which Hghteth every man that conceth 4nto the world", "in due timew.-
Hebrews 2 :9 ; John 1:9 ; 1 Timothy 2 :6. 6.
T h a t the hope of the church is that she may be like her Lord "see him M he is," be "partakers of the divine nature',' and share hip
glory a s his joint-heir.-1 John 3 :2; John 17 :24 ; ~ o m a &8 :17 ; 2 Peter 1:4.
-+l'hut tlic prment ml~slonof the church Is the ~erfectlngof the salnts for the future work of service. to develop In herself every
gntce : to be God's witires8 to the world ; and to pregare to be kings and priests in the next age.-dphenlana 4 :12 ; Matthew 24 :
3 4 ; ltebelation 1 : 6 ; 20 : 6.
Thai tl:r hope for the world lies In the blessings of knowledge and opportunlty t o be bron h t to all b Christ's 31illennial kingdom, t h e
~r+::itullonof a!l tlrat 1v.m lost .in Adam, to all the willing and okdient,_at the hangs of their Kedeemer and his gforlhed church,
wlien all the nrllfully wicked will be destroyed.-Acts 3 :19-23; Isaiah 38.
,
p u o ~ ~ s n BY'
ro The Kinemo moving picture projrctior~III~~(~IIIIIC, i~itz~tlt'(l
for itlesperienced persons t o operate, has bcvn cot~~pletecl
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~ - service. ~n tire? cor111t1.v.
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London W. 2' Cnnndian: 270 Dundns St., \\'.. Toronto. Ontarlo; be connectwl with any nutomobile I ~ ~ : ~ c l i isocket e l ~ t 01. stor-
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PLEASE~ D D ~ E STEE S SOCIETYIN EVERYCASE. . the operator can stop indefiriitely on any picture or title to
YEARLY SUIISCRIPTION PRICE: UNITEDSTATES.$1.00 ; CANADA AND make remarks.
B ~ I ~ C E L L A N E O U SFOREION,$1.50: GREAT BRITAIN, AUSTI~A~.ASIA. The machine weighs only ten poun(L9 and whether used
AND SOUTHAFRICA,8s. hmerican remittances s11ouid be ~nntle exc'rlsively at home Or
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British. South African. aild Austrnloqlnn remittance# slionltl be friends in tolvn O r C~Ulllry,will well serve for rritnessille
made bratrch Oulcea 'otlly. Rmnittiinccs from scattered foreign TI~FTH jn a jvay tllnt- will be relllenlbered nll(i tlllkei
territory may be iiinde to the Brooklyn oflice, but by International
Postal hfoney Orders only. about. lPilms to be sent out with the projertor, art3:
--(Foreign
- -- -- traltslntiorts
- of thfa jotrmnl nppenr f n nrveral la~lgua#rn)
-- P.\I.I.:HTIXE, ,
showing scenes taken ill col~riec.tion ~vitll
EdilorlalCommittc.: This is pnhlisl,ed tl,e s~,=n Brother 1:utherford's recent trip, proving the fulfill~nelltof
of an editorial rommittee a t least thlye of who111 hnre read and prophecies resljecting the return of the Jews to Palestine.
arlproved a s truth each a i d ererv article appearing in t h e e columns. THE I~II'EBTAL VAI.I,EY, a n excellerlt exan~pleilir~stratitlg
The names of the editorial ccinin~itteeare: J. F. RIITFIERFORD,
W.E. VAN AMBUROH,r. I T E ~ ~ E I ~ Ya. , H. FISHER. E. w. BBENISEV. how the desert shall blossom a s the rose atid yielcl its in-
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g symbolic teachings of the uas-
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r l t h l a ~ m o n t b b ~ c b - t . ~ & ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ H ~ ~ ~ ~ O ~ tki l~~~rpictures,
0 1 m ~ ~keeping
1 u r h abreast
o l ~ with PRESENT TRUTH, will
= - & - - be available from tlme to tlme. Quote "fiIiiliotis" book cita-
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 AN D W EPALD OF CHR H S TPRESENCE
~
VOL:.XLIII"

THE G E N T I L E T I M E S
Y
And if ye tcill n o t yet for all this heal.r'l.pt1 tinto ,me, fher~I will punish you srueir times nzo1.e for ?jotlr sins."-
Leiliticzu 26: 18.

A NOTIIER test is 011. Wlio will weather thc storm? out of the \viltlcr~~c~ss.
Jt is a test of faith. "According to your faith be becomes co~~viucctl
it u~rtoyou." 1)uriilg the time of tllc 11arvc.st a n~ibtalieill S ( ~ I ( ~ LUrotllvr
there have Iwrn spc~cialtests of faith at fisctl int:.rvals.
As he g o ~ s011 in this \\ay, he
ill his 01\11 llrill~ltliat the Lord niade
~ ~ I I ~ It~~ssc~Il ;is t l ~ a tsm.uirrit;
aild this doubt 1c;~clsto the coilclusiolr 1atc.r o : ~Ihat
Call to milltl the shaki~lgthat came with t 1 1 ~ clisc~~rsio~i,~ ~ ~ ~Russell ~ t h was
t ~]lot
r "tl i ~ ts i ~ r ~ ~ a ;it n t "i11I. J LC%be-
in this jo~rn~al, of tlic covcl~al:ts. '1'1rc~1ic.allre tlrtl slrak- g h ~ sto doi~bt\\ lritt 1:l.t t1:01. 1trr::sc 11 \\ rot(*.it11tl so cx-
ing rtlutil;,q to the t l l ~ l lSollo\\-~tl
ii~rotlrt~rrl~aliing ~ ~ C ' S C S liifi~s~lf. Ko\\r 1 1 ~(Ii,sl.(;::IIYI< tlic l,o~tl'e Y:ord,
with the Sr~llrrdiscussio~rof consc~cr;ltior~ i111t1j~r+ti!ica- I\-hitbh.:iys: "TI.II:t in the Loid it11 :)I1 thin(>11c.art;
tion; then follo~\-cbtltht. trrt coiic.t~rnil~gtlrv S e ~ i ~ ~ i tant1 h l ~ n nnot unto thinr own iintlcr~t~i~rtli~rg. JII all thy
Volume'; and then wrothcr test in 1018 c o ~ r c ( - r l ~tile i ~ ~ g wnys arkno~vlcdgcIrim, and 11t. s11:rlI tLil.c,cbt 111) ~)tltl~s."
harvest and the work. Prom a11 thcsc fiery t c ~ t sthe 'l'hlts disrrgarcling this atl~noiiition, a~rtlI)clillg Icd
greater majority of the cons:.c~.:~tetlhavc cnirrgt~dnn- on by the s ~ b t linfluence ~ of the adversary, hr con-
scathed; but some, berausc of I)ittcr~~css of 11c>al.t,have vinc~shimself that it is his solcniir tlrrty to 1u1tl0 all
become blind of vision, gone out of thr truth alrtl hack tilt? things that D~~otlrc~l. It~rrhc~Il t : ~ r ~ g :LII(I
l ~ t to tl11-11the.
into the world, bei~rgled a\wy by the error of the church's vision in the rigllt way. 110j)rcBj)arc.sa niailu-
wiclted. There is a reason for this. Let us examine the script and charts in support.of same, s e t t i ~ ~forth g his
facts concerning the reason. views. Submitting i t to othrrs ant1 being atlvisc~clthat
Lucifer was a crc~atr~re of ligllt n11t1 po\\.olnallti of 11is tl~oirglrta arc ~vro~ig. 11e c.ol~rirrtc~s t l r i q t,o I I I ( V I I I a
great bcauty. 13clloltling his ornil I~cli~t~ty a11t1l)cillg im- dc~irc~ to prcve~~thinr l'l.o~npc1rrnitti11ghis light to slrl~~e,
pressed with his otrn wistlom and ability, lie coilcluded al:tl disregartls such ntllice. So thoroughly is he irn-
to put into operation a plan of his o~rn,diflclrent from prc~sst~d that he ninct thus tcacl~the pcwple and nntlo
God's arra~lgcnientant] tlla carrying out of \vlricli ~vould that which has hcr11tcr rlg11t. that he 1)c.gi 11stlie p111)l ica-
malre T~ucifcrgreat like unto Jehovah. I n his heart he tion of his tl~or~glrt.:ant1 to send tl~csoforth to the
brcamc disloyal to God, tunltd away from the light and consccratctl. ITir a~.;!r~~nriits sccm plausil)lc to tl~osr\rho
truth, and becamc the wicl<rtl one. Yrol)al)ly his inten- make oiily a supc.~.jit.inl csan~jnntion,arid cspclcially to
tions were good when he first began to exercise his wis- those who have fo~.gotteiiwhat they were taught. Doubt
dom and to be impressed with his own importance. Am- arises in the minds of some who thus read. Now the
bition turned him blind and embittered his heart. Since test is on.
then he has sought by fraud and deceit and other mrong-
ful means to t11n1all away from Jellovall. God has per- QIIES~'IONSDISCUSSED YEAIIS AGO
mitted this dcllection of the great and brilliant crea- About a year ago tl~crcbcgan some agitatiol~con-
ture Luciier to be made promillent in his Word for cerning chronology, the crux of the argument being
'some good purpose. The evideilt purpose is, that all of that Brothcr Russrll was wrong concerning chronolon
his other illtclligent creatures might learn the proper and particularly in error with reference to the gentile
lesson. timc~s. 3loi.c thnli fiftccn years ago these questions were
raised and thrashed out, and so clearly did Brother
AMBITION'S FRUITAGE Russell set forth the facts in Volume I1 of STUDIESIN
Ever and anon there arises some one who has been THE SCRIPTURES and in THE WATCH to we^, that it
following the Lord, for a time at least, who possrsses seemed a waste of time and space now to further die-
a measure of beauty of mind and character, and possiblx cuss the mattcr in this journal; and the subject m@
of person--one who takes himself too ~rrio~lsly. He SUC-' dismissed on that ground.
ceecls in convincing himself that the llortl has appoilltcd Seeds of doubt once sown and permitted to germinate
him to look al'tcr tlrings divine and to lead Cod's people in the heart grow until the doubter turns to agnosticism
. 181.
 T ~ ~ W A T CTOWER
H
or positive opposition. If the person holding the tloubt his work is equivalent to a repudiation of the Lord,
talcex himself too seriously, thinking more highly of upon the principle Ilerctofore announcctl.
his own importance than he should think (12omans 12 :
3), or where he permits bitteriiess to abide in his heart, FULL TEST OF FAITH
darkness is almost certai~ito ellsue. But every one who has a tlcsire ill his 1it.al.t to sl~ilie
Agitation c o n c e r ~ ~tlic
i ~ ~error
g in chroilology lias con- at tlic csl):*lisc of tllo tz:putution of tlic Lord's r:lio?;cn
tinued to increase throughout the ycar. and some have servant, or wlio nzeditates the bl~ildingfor liimself of a
turued into positive opposition to tliat a-liicli lias been reputation arnoi~gstrncn tkat it may be said of hini
written. This has resultcd in some of the Lord's dear that lle was particularly ~visc- such a one is alruobt
sheep becoming disturbed iu mind and c a ~ ~ s i ~them ig certain to have an opportl~nityto attc.mpt to rc.:ilize
to inquire, Why does not 'l'rr~ WATCH TOWEIL say his desires. 1:vel.y one of ill(: ~ o n s ( ~ c r i ~1~110
t ~ t llns
i the
something? I s not its silence tantnlnol~ntto an admis- inclination of heart to follow such self-constitutccl
sion that our chronology is wrong? leatlers is almost certain to have an opportunity to
Prom time to time the questioa of publishing some- have a full test of his faith. For this cause there arise
thing in this journal has been considcred. Each time from time to time conditions which operate as a test
the Lord has seemed to interfere, until now. Why of the faith of God's people.
should such bs the case? Our opiilion is that the Lord Again the test is on. Tliis time it is on chronology.
had permitted the delay in the reviewing of the ques- And followiiig this lead, it will be found that the road
tion of clii onology silicc the agitation was bf>gun in of doubt and opposition will carry o11e into doubting
order to give thosc. who had thc vrrong condition of the second presence of the Lord, the time of the harvcast,
IW::I.~ an opportunity to maaifc~tthmnsrlves. and to the ofice of "that scruant" and tlic oilc who Glletl it,

- givc tlic others an opportunity to have thcir faith tested. the evidciices of the eiid of thc tvorld, tlic ii-::~~,y~ll.:~tion
FAITHFULNESS IS LOYALTY
of thr kingdom, the iimnicss of tllc rc.rtoratio1I of r1ia11,
and finally to a repnciiation of God a~itlour Ilord Jesus
To be iaithful mealis to be loyal. To be loyal to the Christ and the blood wit11 which \re were i)c.uglit.
Lord means to be obedient to the Lord. To abandon The opening crevice for the enemy thu.; to hlnqt at
or 1-cpudiatc tlie lAordYsclioseu instrument means to the Hock of Ages is now made by the raising of t!le
abandori or repudiate the Lord llimself, upon the prin- question concerning the gentile tiaies. Soiiie thus iul-
cipl,: that lie who rcjccts tlic servant sent by the Naster presscd wit11 their own \i%istlolnbegin to liold forth the
tlicrcby rejects tlie bIaster. arguiiieut that the gentile times bcgan with the bc;:in-
Tlicrc is no one in prcscut truth today who call hon- nirlg of the rclijiu of Neltuc~l.:l(llic;:~;~r ill the ycar (i3.7
estly say tl-t~lllc rcccived a l<non.lrtlg!*of tlic divine plan U. C.; 11cnc.c could not cild i n 1914; 11r~1c.c tlic p~-r*-(*~lt
froin any Eolnce other than by the nlinistry of Brother worlc of the church is ivrong, and the course of at t iun
Rnssell, either directly or indirectly. Through liis pro- should be revcrscd. The holding of such views blinds
phet Ezekiel Jehovah foreshado\v~dthe office of a ser- 0110 to the present events, rninimizcs thc importance of
vaut, designating hirn as one clothed with linen, with the tremendous evidcr.ces of the elid of tllc agp, c a u w
a writer's inkhorn by his side, who was delegated to go those who have bren active to cease to he ~vitnessesfor
throughout the city (Christendom) and comfort those the Ilord, and being thus led au-a? by the error of tlie
that sighed by erlliglitoliing their minds relative to God'e wicked one, they fall away from stc~adlastness.-2 Peter
grcot plau. Be it noted that this was a favor bestowed 3: 17, 18.
not by man, hut by the Lord himsclf. But in kecping With gratitude to God for nliat i e has doiie for us,
with the Lord's arraiigement he used a man. Tlle illan with supreme love for him, with a heart's si~lceredesire
who filled that office, by the Lord's grace, was Brother to be lcd by him, with huinble a i d sincere supplication
Rnssell. that hc liold us by the hanil mid kccp 11s in thc light,
Jesus clearly indicated that during his second pres- let us come to an honest exniilinatio~lof the facts.
ence he would have amongst the church a faithful and
wise servant, through whom he would give to the house- "TIMES"
Bold of faith meat in due season. The evidence is over- 'I'hc word ccg~ntilc'Ji~ a term used to distinguish the
whelming concerning the Irorcl's second presence, the nations of earth aside flmm thc Jews, the J c ~ s sbring
time of the harvest, and tliat the oflice of "that servantJ' God's chosen people, with whom he made a covenant.
has been filled by Brother Kussell. Tliis is not man- The "gentile timesJJ is a period of time during which
worship by any means. It mattcrs not who Charles T. the gentiles shall exercise imperial or kinjrly power over
Russell was-~vlietlier he was a doctor, a hod-carrier or the airairs of cnrth. God coilstit~~tcd Isracl his choscw
a sdler of shirts. St. Peter was a fisherinan; St. P a d people above all other peoplrs. (Exodus 19 : 6 ) Tliis
a lawyer. But these matters are immaterial. Above favoi- they were to enjoy pro1 idcd they remained ol~etli-
all, these mcri were the chosen vessels of the Lord. Re- ent to the Lord Jelrovah. For thcir disobedieilce he
gal iless of his earthly avocation, above all, Brother Rus- permitted thrm to be punislied.from tilnc to tir:ie, the
sell nas the Lcrd's ~crvant. Then to repudiate him and punisliment being inflicted by other nations. (Judges
 =MATCH TOWER
3:14;4:2,3; 10:7,8; 1 3 : l ) Jehovah warned thena- &me of the Lord's dear chilore& haw permitted these
tion of Israel that shonld they fail to profit by these contradictory and conflicting stateinents to disturb their
cliastisements thus inflicted, he would punish them minds. This has been the result of a failure to study
se'uen times. "If ye will hot yet for all this hearken carefully the evidence as set forth in the Bible and in
unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for the STUDIESIN THE SCRIPTURES.We speak of them
your sins."-Leviticus 26 : 18. here as opponents because opposed to or contradicting
A "time", as used in the Scriptures, bas reference to the chronology we have. The conclusion of some of
a year, either symbolic or literal. Symbolic time is these is as follows, to wit: "That the divine lease of
reckoned according to a lunar year of 360 days. (See power to the gentiles began with the accession of N4
A-89.) The rule for counting symbolic time is a day buchadnezzar to the throne in the year 606 B. C. ;hence
for a year. (Numbers 14: 33,34; A-91) One time being the accession of Nebuchadnezzar to the throne marks
360 years in duration, seven times would be a period of the beginning of the gentile times, and the 2520 years
2520 years. therefore would run out in 1914". Again they state that
With Israel God established the true religion, com- "Zedekiah was taken captive and Jerusalem fell in the
manding that the people should worship him and have year 587 B. C.; t l ~ u sshowing that tlic full end of the
no other god. (Exodus 20: 1-3) Satan, the prince of gentile times and the fall of gentile governments is
devils and the ruler of the gentile nations, established indicated to take place in 1934". ( I t will be observed
with those nations the false religion; and the gentiles that this position is contradictory within itself.)
were taught to worship devils, symbolized in various Another of the opponents says that Nebuchadnezzar
forms and images. Jehovah erected a shield for the began his reign in the fourth year of Jehoiakim; that
children of Israel by providing in hia law the severest the servitude of Israel to Babylon began the same year;
penalty for worshiping devils. Time and time again that the desolation began in the nineteenth ycar of
-Israel went off after the false religion, worshiping the Nebuchadnezzar; that the fourth year of Jehoiakim and
demon gods ;and for this they were punished.--Leviti- the first year of Nebuchadnezzar was 606 B. C.; and
cus 26 :1-16. that the desolation began nineteen years thereafter,
It must be apparent to all careful students that the which shows the overthrow of Christendom in 1933.
period of the gentile times would be a period of great Each of these opponents claims that the position
punishment to Israel, and that that period of time must taken is supported by secular history and that therefore
begin with some specific punishment marking the be- Brother Russell was mistaken in his conclusions about
ginning of the gentile times definitely and must con- the chronology. They also admit that their method of
tinue for a definite period of seven times, or 2520 years. counting time chanyes the period of tibe kings from 613
The question at issue is, When did this period of the years to 494 years.
gentile times begin and when is the end thereof? These
facts cannot be proven by profane history, because such BROTHER RUSSELL'S CONCLUSIONS
history is made by men who acted as agents of Satan's
empire and hence were unreliable; for Satan is the The conclusion of Brother Russell, reached from a
father of lies. (John 8 : 44) Let everyone who wishes careful examination of the Scriptures, is succinctly
to be bound by such authority do so; but surely all stated in Volume I1 of STUDIESIN THE SCRIPTURES,
Christians will want to stand by the Bible. page 79, as follows:
An absolutely safe rule to follow, therefore, is this: 'The Bible evidence is clear and strong that the 'times
of the gentiles' is a period of 2520 yehrs, from the year
Where the testimony of the Bible is clear and plain, B. C. GO6 to and including -4. D. 1014. This lease of uni-
follow that always. Where secular or profane history versal dominion to gentile governments, as we have already
is corroborated by the Bible, such testimony may be seen, brgnn with N~buchadnezzar-notwhen his reign began,
considered for what it is worth as cumulative evidence. but wI16.n tlie typlml kingdom of the Ilord passed away, nnd
Where secular or profane history is contrary to the .the tloniinlon of the whole world was left i n the hnuds of
the gentiles. The date for the beginning of the gentile times
. Bible, follow it never.-Romans 4: 3. is, therefore, definitely macked as at the time of the removal
of tlie crouvt of God's typical kingdom from Zedekiah, their
OPPONENTS' CONCLUSIONS last king.''
To avoid any confusion we will state that the date5B.C. A careful examination of the Biblical proof herein
in this article signify the number of years before Christ, set forth demonstrates that in their position on chrono-
as we have been accustomed to stating them; exactness ogy the opponents of Brother Russell are wrong, and
might, however, sometimes call for the previous year, that Brother Russell was right. I n arriving at a con-
as the name of the year, aa distinguished from the clusion, Brother Russell did not always state each step
number of full years elapsed. :in detail ; but his conclusions are plainly and definitely
Those who have attempted in recent months to prove stated and are based upon the Scriptures. We must
that the chronology as prepared and published by Broth- indulge the presumption, therefore, that he pursued a
er Russell is wrong make statements not only contra- sound course of reasoning in arriving a t these conclu-
dicting Brother Russell, but contradictory in themselves. sions if we find the conclusions are correct.
 -WATCH TOWER
We now propose to prove that the gentile times, a old when he 1)rgan to reign [(js!8 1i. Cy.1 ; n ~ l t lhtl ~.cli;:rlcd
period of 2520 years, began in the year 606 B. C. and eleven years 1617 I<. C.]in . I P ~ I I , C I I ~111 C I Ihis I . (Iitys
ended in the fall of the year 1914; and that the ouster Nebuchadriezzcir king of Baby1011 canic. lr p, n ~ ~ .I t tblloilt- l
proceedings began promptly thereafter and on time. I n kim became his servant three years: ti1c.n hr tnrnctl ilnd
making this proof we rely upon the Bible and not upon rebelled against him [Nebucliadnezzor 1 ." ( 2 liil~gs23 :
secular or profane history. We consider the points in 36; 24: 1 ) "Against him [Jehoiakin~]c8illrlt. "1) Nt'b11-
the order numbered hereinafter, as follows, to wit: chadnezzar king of Babylon, and bolultl 11in) i ti lettclrs,
to carry him to Babylon."-2 Chl.oniclrs D(i : ti.
POINT I: TENURE OF KINGS The carrying away of Jehoiachin to Babylon was in
The time and duration of the reign of the various the year 617 B. C. Jehoiakim's reign linvi~lgbcgm in
kings of Israel is one of the Biblical methods of estab- 628 B. C., and he having reigned c l e v c ~yc.:~~.s. ~ ~~c~cc.s-
lishing the various dates in our chronology. Saul, sarily it ended in 617 B. C. At that time Nebnchnd-
Israel's first king, began to reign in the year A. M. nezzar wassin the eighth year of his reign. Thus the
3009. The total period of the tenure of the kings of Scriptures prove beyond any question of a doubt that
Israel was, to wit, 513 years. The reign of the kings the captivity did not begin in the first year of Nebn-
ended with the year A. M. 3522. No careful Bible chadnezzar's reign; nor did the desolation begin there.
students will dispute these facts. No other conclusion It is therefore seen that i t is utterly impossible for
can be reached except by juggling the figures and ig- the gentile times to have begun in the first year of
noring the Bible statements. Nebuchadnezzar's reign, to wit, 625 B. C. No one claims
I n THE WATCHTOWER of May 15, 1896, page 112, that the gentile times began in 617 B. C., the year
is set forth a statement of chronology from Adam to Jehoiakim was taken and put to death, as indeed such
1914. These figures are given in Anno Mundi time. a claim could not be successfully made in view of the
- According to this calculation it is proven by the Scrip- evidence hereinafter set forth.
tures there cited that Jehoiakim's reign began in tho
year A. M'. 3500, which corresponds to the year 628 HISTORIC CORROBORATION
B. C. The beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, being It is reasonable to sumose that the Jewish historian
A

definitely fixed, gives us a starting point from which to Josephus, being derply interested in his own people,
count the time and by which to determine the universal would be more reliable in fixing dates than would tlie
reign of Nebuchadnezzar and to reach a proper con- historians of the gentile nations. We do not at all need
clusion relative to the gentile times. the testimony of Josephus, but because it is corroborated
The first year of the reign of N e b u ~ h a d l l ~ xking
r, by tlic Bible we citc it liere for wllnt it is worth. IIe
of Uabylon, was the fourth year of tllc rrign of Jclloirl- ])lni~llydntcs that 110 attack was nintlc 11pon Jcr~lsalcm
kim. "The fourth year of Jehoiakim the so11 of Josiall at the brginning of Nebnchaclnexzar's reign. We quote
king of Judah, that was the first year of Nebucliad- from Antiptities of the Jews, Book X , Chapter VI,
nezzar king of Babylon." (Jeremiah 25: 1; sec also pages 365-367 :
Jeremiah 46 : 2) Since Jehoialtim's reign brgan ill ti28 "In tllc follrtl~;\-(>:tr of .Tt>lloi:~kim,one wllosc name mas
B. C., it follows that the first year of Nebuchailnezzar's Scl~ucIl:ltl~~t.r~:~r took llte go\el.illuent over tile B:tbylor~iar~s ;
\vl~oat ~ I I P s:llile ti~tlt!\vent up with a great army to the
reign was the year 625 B. C. There was no attack made cbityC:~rt,l~c.~l~isl~, 1v1tic.h was at E~~phmtes ; upon a resolution
upon Jehoiakim by Nebuchadnezzar in the year of 625 tltut ltc! 11:til taken to figllt with Necho king of Egypt, under
B. C., the first year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign. 'I'lierc \v\'l~oln all S;\-~.i;t tllert wrls. And when Necho understood the
could have been no attack as a king made by him earlier intention of tlte 1ii11gof Babylon, and that this expedition
\v\-llsnitltle against him, he tiid not despise his attempt; but
than that. It was in that fourth year of Jclioiakim's ninrlt. 11:1stt~with- n great b:lnd of men to Euphrates, to
rcign and the first year of Nebuchadnezzar's rcign, to tlrfelld I~i~llsc~lf from Nc~bucl~t~cln~anr. And when they had
wit, the year 625 B. C., that the prophet Jeremiah .joi~~tul t - Ivrtx l)c-:~tett,
I ~ i ~ t t l 11tl clntl lost 11ii111y ~ I I O I I S L I I ~ ~of
S
delivered the divine decree pointing out that i t was his soldirrs. So l l ~ eking of I%ltbylonpassed over the Eu-
God's determination to leave the land of Palestine deso- phrates, nnrl took all Syrin, as frtr as Pelusium, ezcepting
Juden. Rut xvllen Nebuc1ladnt.zz:tr h:td already reigned four
late as a punishment upon Israel. gears, which was the eighth of .Te:~oinkin~'s government over
the EIebre~vs,the? king of Bi~b.vlon111itdt. an cspctlition with
THE FIRST ATTACK minltty forces against the .Jews, rutd rcquluir(*d tribute of
I n the fourth year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Jehoiakim ; threatening upon his refusal to make mar ag:~inst
(and therefore the eighth year of the reign of Jehoia- him. He mas affrighted at his threatening, and bought
kim), Nebuchadnezzar made his first attack against ordered his peace wit11 money; and brought the tribute lie was
to bring for three years.
Jerusalem; and in that year Jehoiakim became the "But on the third year, upon hearing that the king
servant or vasfial to the king of Babylon. Three yeara of Babylon made r l n expedition against the Egyptians, he
later, to wit, in the year 617 B. C., the same being the did not pay h i s tribute. . . .
"A little time afterward, the king of Ral)ylon made an
eleventh year of the reign of Jehoiakim, Nebuchatlnez- espedition against Jehoiakim, wlio reccirecl 11im int.3 the
zar. took Jehoiakim a prisoner and put him to dmth. dts; and this out of fear of the foregoing predictions of
The record reads. ".7ahaiskim was twenty and five yeara Jeremiah, as supposing he should suffer nothing that was
 ~b WATCH TOWER
terrible; because lie neither sltut tile gates, nor fought Jrrcmiah the prophet spmking from the month of the
agctillst ttilll. Yet when he was coule into the city, he did I lord. And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnez-
not observe the covenurltd Ile ltad lnade; but lie slew such
as \yere in tile flower of tlteir age. rtrtd sucl~a s were of tlte . .
zar. . They mocked the messengers of God, and
greatest dignity; together with tltrir king Jel~oir~kitl~, \\.hour despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the
lie c o ~ i ~ ~ t ~ u rto~ dbe
e dthrown befor(* the walls. tvitlluut urly
bnriitl, u~ttl 11tude llis soti Jeiloiucl~ilt king of tttcs coul~try,
wrath of the Ilord arose against his people. ... There-
fore lie brought upon them the king of the Chaldccs
and of the city ; tie also took the principal persons in tlignlty
for captives, tltree thousand in number, andled thrtn uwtly [Nebuchadnezzar], who slew their young men with the
to Babylon. Anlorig these was the pl-ophet Ezekiel, \vl~o\\-as sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no com-
tl~etibut young. i l ~ t dthis wvus the erttl of Icing .Jel~oi:tkitn, passion upon .young man or maiden, old man, or him
IIut
wltcbl~hts Ilrlil 1lvc.tl tl~irty-81syellrs, ant1 rei~itt'dc-lcb\-c*~~. that stooped for agc: hc gave thcaln all illto his hand.
I I P \\.us succtbc*tlc*tlit1 the kingclo~n by Jeltoic~cliir~,whost!
Arid all the vessels of llic house of God, grrut and small,
lltother wus Kehusta, a citizen of Jerusalem. He reigned
t!llrBe~ n o ~ ~ t:111d
l t s ten days." and the treasures of the housc of tlie llortl, and the
Jehoiachili reigned only three mont!ls and tell days, treasures of the king, and of his princcs; all diese he
and mas succeeded by Zctlckiah, whose reign began in brought to 13ahylon. And they B u I ~ ?the house of God,
the year 617 B. C. "Jehoiachin was eight years old and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all
when he Began to reign, and he reigned three months the palaces thereof with fire, and dcstroycd all the
ant1 ten (lays in Jerusalem: and he did that which was goodly vessels thereof. And them that had escaped from
evil in the sight of the Lord. And when the vear was the sword carried he away to Babylon ; where they were
expired, kinf Nebuchadnezzar sent, and brought him servants to him and his sons until the rciga of the
to Babylon, with the goodly vessels of the housi of tlie kingdoni of Persia: to fulfill the word of the Lord by
Lord, and made Zedekiah, his brother, king over Judah the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed
-and Jerusalem. Zcdekiah was one and twenty years old
\\.hen lie bcgun to reign, and reigned clcven years in
her sabbaths: for as long as she lay dcsolatc she kcpt
sabbath, to fulfill tlirccscore ant1 tcli yc~ars."-2 Clironi-
Jerusalem." (2 Chronicles 36 : 9-11) Thus it is clearly cles 36 : 12,13, 16-21.
seen that the reign of Zedekiah, which began in ~ l ? NO CAI'TIVITY BEFORE 617 B. C.
B. C.. lasted eleven years and ended in 606 B. C. He Tliis occurrrtl at the cnd of the reign of Zctlekiah, to .
was the last king of Israel.
wit. in the vear GO6 B. C.
POINT 11: DECREE FOR PUNISHMENT I n corro1)oratioa of this me cite the fiwthel. rtcord
&Idecree means a judicial dctcrminatidn by oile Iiav- dealiiig with the same slibjrct nlattrr, nladc I)y Ezckiel
ing authority, defining what must be done. It means the prophet. Ezrltiel coul~tsthe. tii~lcnic*~itio~~c~d in his
a scntencc pronounced that must be enforced. Neces- prophccy from the tlatc tliat lie and ot11c.r Jc\\rs were
sarily decrees are always entered before they are en- taken captive and carried away to Bal~yloi~.(1Gzekiel
forced. Jehovah pronounced through Moses a divine 1: 1,2; 8 : 1; 20 : 1 ) This captivity began iu the year
decree or judgment that should be enforced against 61'7 B. C. I n the seventh year of that captivity, in the
Israel as a punishment, and the dccree is in these fifth month and the tenth (lay of the month, to wit,
words: "1 will make your cities waste, and bring your about the first day of August, 610 B. C.. which was
sanctztarie.~unto desolation, and I will not smell the the fifteenth year of the reign of Ncbuchadnczxar, the
savor of your sweet odors. And I will bring the land divine decree for the punishnic~itof Israel was restatcd
iuto desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein in other phrase by the prophet Ezc.kic.l,.- -1':zc~liic~l 20 : I .
~ h a l lbe astonished at it."-Leviticus 26 :31,32. The same judicial deter~nillat ion of ,J eho\ a11 a&;sct
It must be conceded by all that the t d i n g of certain forth in Leviticus 26: 31-33 was restated by Ezekiel
of the Israelites as prisoners mid carrying them away in the following words: "Tlicrdorr thus saitli thc 1,ord
to Babylon would not constitute an enforcement of Qod: Brcallsc ye have madc yolw iliiq~~ity to 11c rmlrni-
this decree. The putting to death of Jehoiakim in no bered. in that your transgr~sionsarc discovered, so
wise fulfilled the decree. Besides after his death Zede- that in all your doing your sins do appear; hrcbausr, I
kinh continued to be the king of Israel and reigned for say, that ye are come to remembrance, ye shall b(1 taken
eleven years. Surely during those eleven years the city with the hand. And thou, profane wicked 1)rilict~of
was not in waste ;nor were the sanctuari~sin desolation. Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall Iia\c all
Surely during that period the Jews offered their sacri- end, thus saith the Lord God: llcnlove the diatlcni. and
fices in Jerusalem. When, then, in all the history of take o g the crown; this shall not be the salue: exalt
Israel do we find any record of the enforcement of this him that is low, and abase him tliat is high. I \\ ill
divine decree? The Scriptures answw that it had its overturn, overturn, overturn it; and it sliall br 110 11iol.c.
fulfillment in the latter part of the reign of Zedekiah. '..until he come whose right it is; and I will givc it [tc]
god had restated the decree of judgment against him."-E7,kicl 21 : 24-27.
Istael through *Jeremiah.~ConctmihgZedclriah, the Iast This restatement of the divine decree occurred four
Ir;qng,'we read: a ~ & d i d&at. which was evil in the sight before its enforcement. Brother Russell says t h d
of the Lord his God, and humbled not himself before the e~~forccrnent of this divine decree ma& the begin4
 -WATCH TOWER
ning of tlle gentile times; and Brother Russell is right. ture (Daniel 1: 1) is this: Tliat the "third ymr" here
-B-Y9, 71*2,3. means the third yrar of t l ~ cvr~ss:ll:~gcof .Icl~oialiint to
Nebuchadnezzar; or "the third year of Jehoiakin~ Lns
GENTILE TIMES BEGAN 606 B. C vassal king]". It is plainly stated in the Scripturt.~,
God had promised that the sceptre should not depart as heretofore pet forth, that in the cigl~thyear of the
from Judah nor a lawgiver from between his feet until r e i p of Jelioiakiin as king, Ncb~bucl~ittlrtczxarcame
Shiloh come. (Genesis 49: 10) It will be observed that against him and Jehoiakim became his servant and
the decree of punishment did not include the removal paid tribute to Nebuchadnezzar three years and then
of the sceptre. It nlcrrly states: "Ren~ove the diadem, rebelled against him. ( 2 Rings 24: 1 ) 'l'l~crcforc, i t was
take off the crow^^". ' I ' I t ( ~ cro\v11 is a synlttol of im- exactly thrcc ycitrs It~tclrtlio I.'c>ginl~i~~g
ol' 11is vassalt~gc>,
perial dominion or rulership; while the sceptre is a to wit, the ycar (il7 B. C., that Nebuchadnezzilr be-
symbol of imperial authority or right. The enforcelllent sieged Jerusalem and took Jehoiakim, and a t the same
of this divine decree, tl~ercfore, took away from Israel t i n ~ ecarried away the prophets Daniel, Ezekiel, and
the dominion, wlticli dornillion should be enjoyetl by others, including I-Iananiah, Mishael, and Azariali,
the gentiles until thc! coming of him ~vhoscright i t is, whose namcs were changed by the king to Shadracli,
namely, Shiloh, the Blessiah. 'l1l1e gentile times, there- Meshach, and Abed-nego, respectively. Daniel wrote his
fore, could not possibly brgi~luntil the enforcement of prophecy while he was in Babylon; and i t is quite
this divine decree. (Ezeliiel 21 : 24-21) And since it was apparent that he counted time from the date of the
pronounced by t l l ~pro1)ht.t ISeeliiel while Zedekiah was beginning of the vasealage of Jehoiakim as Iring. 39ani-
the king. it conclusi~elyproves that the gentile times festly, then, the argument of Brother Russell's oppo-
did not. begiii with tho captivity of Jehoiakim or of nents that the gentile times begail during the reign of
Jehoiachin, but tlitl i)r,rri~~ wit11 the overthrow of Zede- Jehoiakim must fall.
kiah. YOlNT IV: NEBUCtIADNEZZAR'S DREAM
About August 1, (iO(i1(iO(is] H.C., Nebuchatlnrnzar the Again, opponents of the chrol~ologyas set forth by
king of Ba1)ylon brokr down the city of Jerusalem and Brother Itussell stat(&tllilt the begiltni~~g of the gc'~ttile
destroyed it, tooti %rc!c*kiah imd put out his eyes, altd times is markod I)g tlle nc-c.ossion of N ( ~ ~ u c ~ ~ L ( ~toI I ( ~ z z
desolated the city a~ttl thcb ltl~id. (.J~relr~inI~ 39 : 2-9)
t l ~ cthrone of Babylon, a11t1ill snpport of this contcirt ion
Thus from another lil~clof p1.oof is defi11iti4~ cstablishcd
cite Daniel 2: 1. This argument must likcwise fall.
that the divine dccrrc. \\as enforced in 606 1%. C., encling
1)aniel 2 : 1 ~.cnds:('In the srcolid yrar of the reign
the donlinion of Isl.i~cland permitting t l ~ egentiles to of I S e l ) i ~ ~ I ~ ~ t lI.,
l ~;"r'c~ltnchadncxxnr
(~%%il drcln mead ~ ~ I ~ ~ I ~ I
estal)lish a t r ~ t i o r r ~ n(ll o ~ ~ i i ~ t~i I~clI~' P.n, t this tintc, it
~vllere~viil~ 11is y i r i t IV:IS t r o ~ ~ l ) l (and
~ ~ lhis
, s I ( ~ yl ) t ~ i ~ l \ ~
was that Jcllo~t111.lig~ri~tivcly spealiii~g.witlldrew from from him". '.l'11(1 dl.c.:urn itstllf is s1.t fortli in wrscns 31
tlie stage of actio11 a~ltlpernlitted Satan. through his to 35 of the snnlc chalttc~. Ncbud~atlnczzartlie 1iitl.g
rcprcse~ttative,Xc.l)ucltiitl~lc*m~-, to establish a universal had brollgl~t l)clfo1.(1J l i l l l I I I ; I ~ : ~ C ~nstl.olog(~rs,
:IIIS. SOl'I'l'1'-
cmpirc. llcre it \\.as that Sfittin I)c~c~arne t h 'gocl
~ of Illc
ers, and Cllaltlnrlts to i~ltc~rprct his tlrcam, arid all of
whole worltl'; arid fro111 that time forward his rule them failed. '"1'111~11 .4rioch [tlie ~i~lltilil\ of the king's
through earthly rcprcsentnti~esis symholixcd by a wild gnard] brolrglit ill l)al~ic.l1)cfol.c t l l ~k i ~ ~inghaste. a ~ l d
beast., said thus utlta ltin~.I haw foullcl a man of the em-
tives of Jutlnll, thnt will 11li11i~x kno\tr~unto thc ki~tgthe
POINT Ill : DISClIEl'ANCY EXPLAINED
interprc1t:~tio11.Tltc* king allsw(~rc~t1 and said to 1):111icl,
Opponents of B t . o t l ~ ~l~ussell's
r c o i ~ c l ~ s i oon~ ~chro-
s whose narne was Uelte~linzzar. Art tlion able to m;~lie
nology attempt to show that the divine decree against known unto me the drram which I hay(. sc3cn, an11the
Israel began to he c~tlorcedin the third ypar of the intc>rpretation thereof?"--1)anirl 2 : 25, 2(;.
reigii of Jel~oiakirn,a~ltlcite as authority Daniel 1: 1, It is utterly impossi1)le for this tl.alisaction to 11:~re
which reads: '111 the t11i1.d year of the ~acignof Jehoia- occurred in tlie sc~colldyear of tlie rrign of Neb~icltacl-
kim king of Juilali can~eKcl)~~chadiiezzar king of Baby- nezzar for the following reasons, to wit: (1) l)rcn~~se
loll unto Jerusalem, ant1 I~esirgedit". A careful esam- Daniel, in the secoud ycnr of Nch~lchatll~cznar, wi~s1 1 0 t
ination of this test at once shows that there is a dis- i n Babylon and corrlrl not then linve heen tnken before
crepancy. I n tlie thirrl year of Jehoiakim's reign, as the king; ( 2 ) because he was taken to Rahylon in the
we have heretofore seen. Nebuchadnezzar was not yet year 617 B. C., which was the eighth year of the reign
king of Babyloll. IIe did not beconic, king until a yenr of Nebuclindnexznr; and ( 3 ) I)('('~IIISC Daniel wns i ~ o t
later (Jereminli 25: 1) ; and the plailt Scriptlira1 state- peni~iltc~tl to appcw before the ki~tg1111til nftrr Itc had
ments heretofore cited show that Nebl~cliad11t~7.zar's fi rkt bee11 in llabylon ?l~i-eeyears, according to his own testi-
attack against Jerusalem began in the eighth vear of 'I mony.
the reign of Jehoiakim: Hence it wns inipo~si1)lcfor 'I'he facts heretofore set forth definitely establisll the
him to attack in the third year of JeIloiakimys reign. co~.rrrtne~s of reasons (1) and (2). We proceed to tile
The proper and reasonable'explanation of this Scrip- e~rtmiiiationof -(a) : '
 Man 1, 1922
-WATCH TOWER
I n the eighth year of his reign Nebuchadnezzar car- ercise dominion) was taken from Israel, and a gel~tile
rictl away to Babylon many of the Jcws, amorig whom king permitted to exercise that power. Now x c intro-
were 1)ailirl and the three Hebrew children. The king duce another line of proof by beginnilig dt a later iixtd
gave an order unto Ashpenaz, the master of his eu- date and counting back, measuring the time by unhn-
nuchs, that he should bring certain of these Israelites peachable Biblical testimony, which also sllows the be-
"in whom was no blemish, but well favored, and skilful ginning of the gentile times to be GO6 3. C. The latter
in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and under- line of proof is a complete corroboration of the forrner.
standilig science, and such as had ability in them to God had foretold through his prophet Isaial~ (see
stailtl in the king's palace, and whom they might teach chapters 44 and 45) that the kingdom of the Babyloll-
th.3 Icarnii~gant1 the tongue of the Chaltlcans". I n other ians under Nebnchadnezzar wonld be ovcrthrowr~ arid
wortls, tliose so selected were to be educated and trained. that then 'Israel would be returned to licr ow11 Itlntl.
"And the king appointed them a daily provision of the The Lord's prophet even named the victorious king,
king's meat, and of the wine which he drank; so nour- Cyrus. The date of the beginning of thc reign of Cyrus
ishing them three years, that at the end thereof they thcrrforc hecomes important.
might stand before tlte king. Now among tllesc were of The reign of Cyrus is shown by thc tcstimoliy of
the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Ifishael, and many secular or profane historians. This testimoi~yis
Azariah. Now at the es~dof the days [to wit, three here cited for two reasons: (1) because there is scarcely
years] that the king had said that he should bring them a doubt about the correctrless of the date as statctl; and
in, then the prince of the e ~ ~ n u c hbrought
s them in be- (2) because the date is corroborated by the Scril)tural
fore Nebuchadnezzar. And the king communed with proof. Hence the secular history may be used as c~uuu-
them ;and among them all was found none like Daniel, lative testimony luuder tlie rnlc. We give brlow a num-
IIananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore stood the3
- bejore the king."-Daniel 1: 3-6, 18, 19.
ber of these authorities.
ItEIGN BEC.4N 586 B. C., SAY IlIB'I'OItIANY
DATE OF DREAM WAS 614 B. C. Smith's Bible Dictionary, u~lclertlie t ~tlts"Ca [)ti\itics
According to the king's decree, this transaction of of >he Jews", pages 93 and 100, says: '"l'lie 13aI1ylo1liail
Dnnicl's standing before the king could not have oc- captivity was brougl~tto n claw I)y the 11cc;rrcof Cy1.u~:
curred until the end 6f the three years of instruction, B. c. 536".
which was, to wit, in the year 614 B. C. and in the Ilible Co.mme~ats(Jamison, Vancc1tt and Brown), Vol.
eleventh year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. Evidently 1, page 285, gives the dtitc of tllr reign of Cyrus and
it was about one year thereafter that Nebuchadnezzar the issuing of the dccree as 536 13. C.
had the dream in question. Szc~intnn's T l i ~ t o r y page
, 40. ~ i v c s536 B. C. as tlie
Now to remove all doubt as to the correctiiess of this date of the edict of Cyrus for thtl rctnrn of tht. Jews.
conclusion, we find that the Variorum rendering of this Historiasts' Ilisfory of the IVorld, TTol. 2, p a p 27,
text (Daniel 2 :1) is : "And in the twelfth year of the gives 536 B. C. as thc (late of the decree of Cyrus for
reign of Nebnchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed the return of the Jcws.
dreams," etc. The circumstantial evidence produced by Universal Escplopedin. Yol. 6 . l)agtJ 445, gives 536
Daniel himself proves that the Variorum rendering is B. C. as the tlntr ol the rt~igiiof Cyr~ls.
correct. Sanford's Concise Cyclopedia of Religious Ir'noroledge,
The explanation of Daniel 2: 37, therefore, is that in j)agti'' 471. gives the date of thc bcgilmi~igof Cyrus'
the interpretation he told the king in substance that reign as B. C.
Jehovah had determined that he (Nebuchadnezzar ) should I n the Scriptures we read: "Now in the first year
be the head of the image observed. We are not left to of Cyrns X-il~gof Persia. that the word of the Lord
guess about matters of this kind, because the apostle spokm by the mouth of Jerc~i~iiilli might b~ acconi1)lish-
Paul plainly says that God "calleth those things which ~ t l , the Lord stirred up t l l ~spirit of Cyras Irii~g of
be not as though they werey'. (Romans 4: 17') Other- Persia. that he made a proclanlation throughout all his
wise stated, Jehovah had determined that Nebuchadnez- kingdom, and put it also in n-riting, saying, Thus saith
zar should occupy this position; but at that particular Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth
time Zedekiah was the king, had been king for three hath the Lord God of heaven given me; and he hat11
years, and reigned thereafter eight years before Nebu- charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which
chadnezzar really assumed the position as head of the is in Judah. Who is there anlong you of all his people?
image. The TJord his Oorl be with him. and lot hiin go np."
( 2 Cflro~licles3G: 22, 23) "Tl~cn rosc 111) t11~c11ic.f of
POINT V: TEE REIGN OF CYRUS the fathers of Judah and Benjanii~~. ant1 tllc l~riests,
The argument hereinbefore made proves that the and the Levites, with all them whdsc spirit God had
. gentile timm a s a period is based upon the tenure of raised, to go up to build the house of the Jlortl which is
a office of the Jewish kings. This evidence shows that it in Jerqsalem. . . . Also Cyrus the k i n ~I)rn~r~rl t fnrth
was the year 606 B. C. when the crown (power to ex- the vessels of the house of the Lord, M-liicl~ S c ~ l ~ ~ ~- . l i r ~ !
 TOWER
nczza. had brought forth out of Jerusalem. All ... DESnl,ATE FOR SEVENTY YEARS
thesc (lid Sheshbazzar bring up with them of the cap- The proof lien4.of'ore adduced shows tliat tlir rcign of
tivity that were brought up from Babylon unto Jeru- Cyrus began in the year 536 B. C.; and that tlie first
salem." (Ezra 1: 5,7,11) ('And when the seventh month year of his reign marked the end of the dcsolation of
was come and the children of Israel were in the cities, the laud, in which year he issued a decree for the re-
the people gathered themselves together as one man to building of Jerusalem. The Scriptures cited show that
Jerusalem. ...They gave money also unto the ma- this period of desolation was to be seventy years in
eons, and to the carpenters; and meat, and drink, and duration. Counting back, then, seventy years from 536
oil, unto them of Zidon, and to them of Tyre, to bring 13. C. brings us to 606 B. C., con11)lctclycorroborutil~g
cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa, according the other line of proof showing that 606 U. C. is the
to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia."- date when the crown was removed from Israel, when the
Ezra 3 : I,?'; see also Ezra 5 : 12-14. desolation began, and when the gentile times began.
'Phis Scriptural proof ~liowsthat the Jews' captivity Incjdcntally, here we remark that mnch has bcrn said
to 13abylon elided with the first year of the reign of about tlie ni~teteenyears of the reign of Nebucliadurzzar
Cyrus; and the secular historians above cited show that before the overthrow of Zedekiah; and an attempt is
that year was 536 B. C. I n the next succeeding point made to show that this indicates that there is a parallel
will be observed the Scriptural proof showing that the of nineteen years to be fulfilled with reference to tlie
date 536 B. C. is correct, which proof also shows that close of the gentile times and the complete fall of gen-
the date 606 B. C. is the beginning of the gentile times. tile governments. There is absolutely no justification
for any such conclusion. It is not warranted by reason
- POINT V1: DESOLATION NOT CAPTIVITY
hluch cor~fusionhas resulted from using the words
nor by Scriptures. The nineteen years have nothing
whatsocvcr to do with thc gentile tinie~,ilic4r beginning,
captivity, servitude, and desolation as synonymous end, or the overthrow of governments. It has merely
tenus: The Jews were in captivity niore thail once and been injected to confuse the minds of some. \Ye niiglit
for different periods of time; but there was only one as well say that because a rat has "nine livr?' it v~111d
period of desolation. It is true that tlic Jews were in take nine years to kill all t l ~ ccots. as to xoy that, 11r-
captivity during the period of tlcsolation, but such cap- cause Nebuchadliezzar reiglied nil~ctrrnpears beforo lie .
tivity was merely incidental to the desolation. Their overthrew Zedelriah, therc~foretlie o~wtlironof gc~iitile
f i r ~ tcaptivity to Nebuchatll~ezzar began ,in tlie year dominioil ivould be nineteen years aftcr 1!)14. 'l'lie ar-
61'7' U. C., and not until elrvrl~years thereafter was gument is unreasonable, uiiscriptural, aritl ~ioi~sc~isical.
the land made desolate, withoilt an inhabitant. What
God intended for us to underetand must be determined POINT VII: THE END - OUSTER PROCEEDINGS BEGUN
by the language employed in his tlecree for the punish- Upon all the evidence there cannot be the sliglitest
ment of Israel. Therein he said : "I will make your doubt about the gentile times. Tlic 1ra.r of univclrsal
cities waste, and bring pour sanctuaries unto desola- dominion to the gentiles could not brgin as long as
tion, and I will not smell tlie savor of your slreet odors. there was a vestige of God's typical kingtlom. It mat-
And I will bring the lalld into desolutwn; and your ters not when the lieathen king Nehuchadnezzar began
enemies which dwell thcrrin ~ 1 ~ be ~ 1n~tot1i41ed
1 at it." his reign. The nineteen years of his reign so mlich
(Leviticus 26 : 31, 32) Time and again the Lord re- spoken of are wholly in~material.f o r c i ~ nto the issnc.
stated the decree through the mouth of Jeremiah: "I The possession and exercise of i111l)tbrial dominion by
- will make Jerusalem heaps. and a den of clragons; and Israel, symbolized by the crown.' ceased when that crown
I will make the cities of Judnh d e s o l a t ~ .~ ~ i t h o lan
r t in- was removed, to wit, when tlie last ruler of Israel waa
habitant". (Jeremiah 9 : 11; see also Jrrc~n~iah 33 : 10 ; detliroiled. That occurred in 606 U. C. Thcre tlie do.
34: 22) As heretofore seen, this tlivine tlecrec was en- nlinioil to the whole world was left in the haitds of the
forced with the ovcrttirow of Zedelriali in the year 606 ger:tiles, which date is by every line of proof fiscd as
B. C. 6OG B. C. There the period of gentile domillion began.
The period of this drr;olation of the larid is fixed by Ueing seven s-ymbolic times in duration, to wit, 2520
the Scriptures as seventy years. The pt~rposcof the en- years, it ended in 1914 A. D.
forcement of the divine decree as ~ e forth
t in 2 Chroni- But, say those nho oppose Brother Russell's conclu-
cles 36: 18-20 was "to fulfill thc word of the TJord by sions, what has happened to show that tlie gcntilo times
the mouth of Jeremiah, 111iti1thr Innd hnc! ~njoyetlher have ended? Are ~ ~ tlic o tgentile g o v o r l ~ ~ ~still
~ c ~rx-
~~tx
sd,l)atlis; for as long as she lay desolate sne kept sab- , erci~ingruling power? Are not things going on tliey
bath, to fulfill threescore and ten years". (Verse 21) 'were from the beginning?
The prophet Jeremiah had ?aid : "This whole land shall \\re answer, Everrtliing has happened that the Lord
be a desolati~n.and an nqtonishment ; and these nations foretold would happen. With the close of the [Jeyish)
&all serve the king of lhbjlon aeventy years2'.--Jere year 1914, he whose right it is thok unto himself his
miah 25: 11. great power and began his reign; the nations were an-
 fi WATCH TOWER
gry, aiicl the day of God's wrath began.--Lw!:icl 21 : ycoyl[l iiiiglit reeog~lizethc 11ideouslic.e~of Satan's em-
27 : lievclation 11: 1:. 1s. pirc! ailtl the blcssc(lncss offered by the 3Iessianic em-
pi,,(; to tlic cull that nlniiy of these might be brought
GENTILE TIMES ENIIED IN 1914
tllrougli tlic trouble and be rcady for the restor.'1 t'ion
On the first day oP Octoher, 1914, Urotlicr li~iasell bl:~.ings that are to follow.
walked illto the cliniilg-rooni at Ilitlicl and, cla1tl)ilig
T o this end, exactly on time, the ouster proccedings
his hands, aiiiiouiiced ill ~ t ~ i i t o r i ;tolies:
i l ~ "'l'lic g1111tile
begait in the Worltl War, followcd clliicltly by famine,
tiiiics have ended! 'l'lie kings of earth liavc llatl tlicir
pestilence, and revolution, the re1i:itilitation of Palee-
day !" Urotlier ltussell was riglit then. l i e ~vasright
tine by the Jews, persecution of Christians in*varioua
when he wrote Volunlc I1 concerning tlie gentilc tilnes.
parts of the earth, oiferises amongst those who claim to
If thc contciition of liis opponeilts co~iccrilingclironolo-
be Jesus' followers, wllilc the love of many waxed cold.
gy is right, then everything that tmiiwl)ired in 1014 and
All of these things Jesus stated would constitute a try-
since must be disregarded as evidence of 11essiall's king-
ing time, a trial of faith and patience, which would be
dom. It is admitted by them that the tenure of office
so severe tliat only 'he that endurcth to the end should
of I~rael'skings must be cl~angetlin order to ngrre with
bc savcd'. (Matthow 24: 7-13) llrliilc tllc~scoustcr pro-
some liistorians who w ~ r cagriits of Satan. Such a
cecdil~gsare in progress, lie coninla~:dshis followers to
change would put out of joi~itall our chronology. and
tell the people that Satan's empire has ended; that the
destroy the value of the datcs 1874, 18?8, 1881, 1910,
gentile times have elided ;that the world has ended, and
1914, and 1918. Such would be equivalent to saying,
here is the proof of it; that the kingdom of heaven is
"Where is the proof of his presc5na?" "My Lord de-
layeth his coil~i::;:."--2 Pctcr :; : 1 ; Jfatthew 24 : 48. a t hand; that the time of restoration is here; that mil-
lions now living will never die; and that "this gospel
Is any Christian so bliud tliat he cannot see what
hnj11)cnctl in 191-1; and thereafter, evidencing the end [good news] of the Iringdom sliall he preached in all
of tlie gerltilc times? 13y way of illustration: A tenant the world for a witricss unto all i~:~tions, and then shall
the end come".
holds a piece of property under a lease, which lease ex-
pires January 1, 1914. The tenant refuses to vacate. Are those who oppose the co~iclusions of Brother
The landlord, in order to legally olltain possession, must Russell concerning clironology obeying this command
institute 0nstc.r proceedings. God granted to the gentiles of giving the witness? Do wc liild thosc who arc in
a lease of dominion for a term of 2620 years, which term harmony with his colielusioiis eo~iccriliiigtlic gc*iitile
or lease ended about August, 1914. Then came forward times obeying this injunction and preaching the evi-
the T,andlord, the rightful Ruler (Ezekiel 21 : 27), and dences of the kingdom and that millions now living
begail ouster proccedings. It is not to be expected that will never die? Surely everything has happened exactly
he would sucldenly wipe everything out of existence, as the Lord snit1 it would 1ial)l)eli co~icorlii~ig tlitt cnd
for that is not the wav the Lord does things; but that of the gentile times.
he would overrule thk contending element;, causing What will trali~pirein 1925? Wait 11pon the Lord
these to destroy the present order; and that \mliile this and see. Be faithful to present privilcgc~s. Every Chris-
is going on he would have his faithful followers give a tian's faith is on trial. "According to your faith be it
'tremendous witness in the world, so that the teachable unto you."

TEXAS CONVENTION
vention of several (laye is to them like transformation

A FOUR-DAY convention of the Bible Students

was held at Dallas, Texas, March 9 to 12, Pil-
grim Brother Edward Stark serving as chair-
man. The other speakers were Brothers V. C. Rice,
into an entirely diflerent atmosplic~re. The testimony
meetings gave stro~lgeviclencc of tlti,s, the friclltls show-
ing by their testi~noniesthat they are not only rejoicing
S. H. Toujian, G . R. Pollock, 0. Magnuson, Scott in the opportiiiiities of service, but are growing in
Anderson, A. H. Macmillan, and Brother Rutherford. knowledge of tlie Lord's plan and thc fruits and graces
The convention was attended by friends from Texas, of the spirit.
Olilahoma, ICan.~as,Arkansas, Louisiana, and Missouri, On Sunday morning a question meeting was conduct-
the largest number of friends attending on any one day ed by Brother Rutherford and we append hereto a few
being about five hundred. It was indeed good to be of the questions and answers:
there, and on every face was obscrvcd the happy Chris- Qticstion: Is Jrhu a type of thc p a t company?
tian smile. Frequently the remarli \Itas made: 'This is A,nsu*or: No. 'l'hc Script~ire~ clml.ly indicntc tliat
the best convention I have ever attcndcd'. Jehu did not represent a spiritual class. Some time ago
' These conventions serve as a great uplift and strength the Society requested the Pilgrim brethren not to die-
to the friends, particularly the isolated ones. They liave cuss in their discourses Jehu in antitgl)e, bccausc it has
very little fellourship with others, and coming to a con- been deemed a wise course to take.
upon
. ..
talrh distress ol nallons r l t h ~erplexltr; t h an and Ole wares (the resU~ss, dl~conlented) ronrlng: men'# hearts falllns them for fear and lor lwklng ta tbr
t b l a~f i l s l upan the earth (toelev). for tho punn of the bernm (ecdr~lastlclsmj rhsll be shahen.
a n know (hat the KLnOdom of Ood In at 'band. Lo& up, llft m lour brad#, relola, for l o w ndcm~tlon draw& dlh-Matt
When Ye ms thew thin-s hrrln tn nlme to plw.
24:33; Mnri 13: 29: Luke 2 1 : 25-15
 VOL. XLIII MAY 15, 1922 So. 10

CHRONOLOGY .
n
But 8amctify the Lord God in yozir I~enrts;and be ready alzcays to give an answer to every man that asketh you
a reason of the I L O tl~lit
~ is i n you with meekness and fear."-1 Peter 3: 16.

w E HAVE no doubt whatever in regard to the

chronology relating to the dates of 1874, 1914,
1918, and 1025. Some claim to have found new
light in connection with the period of "seventy years of
desolation" and Israel's captivity in Babylon, and are
heralded far and wide with a great show of wisdoru.
Some of the discovered records give evidence of great
age, and are accordingly given much weight as author-
ity. Conclusions are drawn by comparing various writ-
ings from difFcrent countries, and an endeavor made to
zealously seeking to make others believe that Brother piece together broken fragments, found here and there.
Russell was in error. l h t even after their best endeavors, they are often forced
h
The apostle James assures us that "if any of you lack to admit tliat their coilclusioris cannot be proved. C'on-
wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men tradictions are often found in some, and connections
liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given cannot be made in others.
him". We believe that promise and daily pctition for Some of their best "authorities" are found a t times
heavenly wisdom and grace to be guided aright. We to be unrc1iol)le; as, for illst:~licc., Josrplius and l'tolcmy.
also believe that the prayers of the saints ascend daily These mcn lived diving tlie first two centuries after
to the throne of heavenly grace for divine guidance as Christ. They had difliculty in compiling their records;
to what shall appear in THE WATCH TOWER,and we for complete data were not acccssiblc to them. No doubt
are very appreciative of that fact. thry did thc b c ~ tl~cy
t coultl untlcl- thrir limitcd circum-
An accurate understanding of chronology apparently stauces. 'l'licy are acccpted 'as among the best tliat sccu-
is not a necessity to salvation. The sub~ecthas been lar history can produce. From these and from others,
largely concealed during the dark ages, and doubtless certain dates have been generally accepted by historical
many saints have made their calling and election sure 11-ritera; but to be generally accepted does not necessarily
without the aid of the chronological features hidden in imply absolute accuracy. However, to impress the ~ ~ ~ i g l i t
the Bible. But they had a knowledge sufficient for gf their wisdom upon their readers, these conclusions
their time. Even now some find it very difficult to are often stated in positive langyage, and the student is
grasp chronology fully, and therefore depend upon the inclined to accept them a t their face statement without
explanations of others. However, a fuller understand- further investigation. I

ing of the times and seasons affords a great joy to the But why rely upon uncertainties tvhen the Lord has
. provided in his Word a complete reliable record from
toiling saints of God, and is a s t i m u l ~ ~tos zeal.
Adam to the return of the+Jewsfrom liahylon, and frorn
. Toward the close of the gospel age, in harmony with that time on secular records are reliable? Tllougli to
the prophecy of Daniel, God began to opcn the flood-
the casual reader there are apparent brcdrs, God has
gates of knowledge along many lines, in preparation for
so overruled that every such break is fully bridged else-
the incoming kingdom. As people began to awake to
where. We need not trace all the tangled and broken
the light, they comnlenccd to investigate and explore in
threads of secular chronology when we have a straiglit
every direction. Old libraries were ransacked, long-
one to follow. The adversary has always endeavored to
buried cities were excavated, in search of more light
deceive people. No doubt he' has had much to do towards
upon the hidden past.
causing the confusion in the historical records of ancient
histori where he could not dcstroy them altogcthcr.
SOUGHT TO DISCREDIT BIBLE
, But in spite of Satan's attempts thus to break con-
The worldly-wise have a l ~ a y sdisliked the Bible, b e * nections, God.has continued to keep an unbroken line
cause it discounted their wisdom and held i t up to that his people may not walk in darkness. (1 Thessalo-
scorn. They would rejoice greatly if they could prove nians 5: 1-6) However God has purposely hidden these
it untrue. With eagerness, tlierefore, have they searched from the worldly-wise, who prefer to walk in the light
long and diligently to that end. Any new discovery ie of their own wisdom.-Daniel 12: 10.
147
 T ~ W A T C HTOWER
TRUE BIBLE CHRONOLOGY period of 9 1 years after the return of some in 536 B. C.
For the benefit of ,some who mav not be so familiar If we add the 70 years to that we have a total of at least
with these divine records and for* some of the more 164 years, 606 to 442 13. C. under the king of .Babylon.
recent' readers of THE WATCHTOWER, and also that We see in a moment, then, that the desolation and
all may refresh themselves with tliese beautiful trutlis, captivity therefore could liot synchronize. The Uiblo
we herewith epitomize the li~leof -chronology. For de- testimony is clear that the Jews first became tributary
tails as to the first six periods here given we refer the to Babylon three years before the death of Jehoiakim
reader to pages 42 to 50 of Volume 11, STUDIESIN (2 Kings 24: 1 ) ;but Jerusalem was not captured, nor
THE SCRIPTURES : did Nebuchadnezzar appear before the city, at that time.
Years At the end of the three years Jehoiakim rebelled, Nebu-
From creation of Atl:~mto the entl of the flood......,..... 1056
From the flood to the covenant with Abraham ..........--.-. 427 chadnezzar took the, city, Jehoiakim died; and Nebu-
From the covenant with Abraham to the Exodus....-...... 430 chadnezzar left Jehoiachin, a son of Jehoiakim, on the
From the Exodus lo l he tlivisioli of the land .....-....,..-. .... 46 throne. He ruled only three months and was carricd
Period of the .Judgrs of Israel.........-..-.-------.-..-.-.--..-..450 captive to Babylon, together with Daniel and his three
Saul to Zedekiah (21 kings) ....... ................-..--------------.------
513 companions and Ezekiel. Zedekiah, an uncle of Jehoia-
Creation of -4dam to clethrontxmentof Zedekiah 3 chin, was left upon the throne. The city was left, the
The break in the Old Testament records as to the Temple was not destroyed, nor was the government
length of the time the Judges ruled, and the length overthrown.
of the reign of King Saul are carefully covered in the
New Testament. Evidently this is of God's overruling SEVENTY YEARS OF DESOLATION
for the edification of his people. We now desire to review some positive evidcnce'that
- It is in the endeavor to connect secular records with the 70 years of desolntion did not 1)cgili to count from
the Bible record at the time of the "seventy years of thi,ci capture of Jerusalem. Not until the overthrow of
drsolation" that some claim to have found the new light. Zedekiah, 11 years still later, did it count. I n Leviticus
'Practically all agree that B. C. 536 'was "the first year 25 the law of the jubilee is given. Every fiftieth year
of Cyrus" mentioned in Ezra 1:1, a t wllicll time such was to bc a jubilee. Jewish reckoning was thus divided
Jews as desired were permitted to return to Jerusalem. into semi-centuries, an easy nianner of computing time.
From thence we have connected records to the present. Elcry fifty-first year would l)e the first year of another
There can be no exception taken to the line showing jubilee cycle of 50 years. IIad the Jews been obedient
that the last ycar of Zcdekiah \\.as A. M. 3622, as shown to their law, there co~lltlhave 11ec.nno doul~tas to the
above. 'I'hcrc is uo contention about thc first ycar oE chronological record; for tliry cvould never have gone
Cyrus being B. C. 53G. It does make considerable dif- into captivity, and would have preserved their records
ference where these two records are connected as to without interference. Did their disobedience alter Gorl'a
what pear A. &I.we are now .in. outlined time arrangements for. the bringing in of tlie
antitype? No inti~notionof such a changr is fomid, but
THE PERIOD OF CAPTIVITY
on the contrary the evidence is that he held to his
111 Jrlcmiah 29: 10 and 85: 11, 12 a period of cap-' original plan..
tivity of 70 years is mentioned. When did this period Leviticus 26 : 31 to 35 rcalls as follolvs :
b-::in? Thc Bible locates the time definitely as 3522 31 "And I will n~trl;e yolil' cttieq ?r.cr..lr1.:1:1r1111 itry yonr
A. &I.(GO6 13. C.), the 19th p a r of King Nebuchadnez- sanctzcaries zcnto dcrolmtio,a, and I will not sn~ellthe s.1' your
zar.. Secular historians vary considerably. The question of your sweet ot1ol.s.
g lawd illto dcsolntioll : :tntl your
32 "A.nd I will b r i ~ ~tke
hinges upon the date of the omm men cement of the 70 enemies which d\vclll tl~c~l.ein
shtill he f~sto~~isht*tl nt it.
years period, some calling it the "70 years of captivity" 33 "And I will scnttcr yon I I I I ~ O I I F :tile 11cr1lll~11,
t ~ r i t l will
and others the "70 years of desolation". Does the cap- draw out a s\vord nfter you: ilnd your lnittl shall be desolntc,
- tivity synchronize with the desolation? and your cities waste.
Ilaniel 9: 25 states that from the going forth of the 34 "Then shall the land ei~ioljher snbbcttl~s,as long as
It lieth desolate, and ye be in uoz11- cneit~ics'land, czzjen then
commandment to restore and build Jernsalem unto Mes- shall the land rest, and enjolj Rcl. sabbrrihn.
siah the Prince would be 69 weeks of symbolic time, 35 "As long as (t lietlc dcaokrte it shrrll rest: because it
, 483 years actual time. Jesus became Messiah the Prince did not rest in flour ~nbhntlts.rlltr,n t1c tl~"c7twpott it."
at his baptism. A. D. 29, as chown fully in Volume 11, This is a prophetic statc~~iicilt, but atltlrrsscd to the
page 60. 483 years less the 29 A. D. would leave 454 nation. "It did not rcst . . . when ye dzcclt r?jaslfnb]
B. C. as tlie date when Nehemiah received his com- upon it" shows clcarly that 11o11rof the time ~rliilr111c'y
mission from King Artaserxes to rebuild the city qnd were on the land wonld be co~~iitctl.The word here
the walls. 454 B. C. was 82 years a f k r 536 B. C., and rendered 'd~velt' is the same Hebrew word (ynslrnb)
the Jews were still under the dominion of Babylon. that is rendered 'inhabitai~t' in Jeremiah 44: 22. Pa-
Comparing Nehemiah 5 : 14 hnd 13 : 6 we find the Jews shab is rendereii 'dwell' 434 tin~rs,'rcliiain' 23 ti~iic.s,
still under the yoke of Babylon, bringing the date down 'sit' 25 times, 'inhabitant' 31 times, and by various
12 pears later, or to 442 13. CI This would make a other rendering in the King James version. The nation
 *WATCH TOWER
was not to be an illhabitant; for it was to the nation Cyrus, 636 B. C. Thus 3592 A. M. and U. C. 536 are
that the statement , .~.made.
i God foreknew what course joined clearly.
it ,would take, aiid so he foretold how he would deal Note again the fiuthcr statenlei~tsof the Scriptures.
with it.' The people would be sent into the land of their Those who returned did not all go to Jerusalem, but
enemies; their land, their c i t i e ~and their sanctuaries "unto Jerusult,n~and Jntluh, every one t ~ f i t ohis own
would all be laid waste and become desolate. The length city". They did not have to reconquer the land; their
of the time of desolation is not here stated, except that cities were still waiting their return. This shows clearly
it would be long enough for the land to "enjoy her that the previous order was restored to considerable
sabbaths". There is no Scripture to prove that' the land extent, the rehabitation of the country and the cities,
was denuded of every individual. and the reestablishment of the sanctunry at Jerusalem.
(Ezra 2 : 1, 70 ;3 : 1-6)Thus the beginning and the end
NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S THREE MOVES AGAINST JEWS of the period known as the "70 years desolation" are so
Nebuchadnezzar went against Jerusalem three .times, clearly marked we do not see how blicre can be any
in person or by his orders: first, in the eighth year of question whatsoever.
Jehoiakim, which was the fifth year of Nebuchadnezzar
(2 Kings 24: 1) ;second, during the three'months reign UNRELIABLE SECULAR CHRONOLOGY
of Jehoiachin, who followed Jehoiakim, three years How can this be harrnollized with secular chronology,
later, which was the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar (2 which states that Nebnchadnezzar began to reign in
Kings 24 :12) Apparently Jehoiachin put up- no de- 606 B. C., reigned 43 gears, and died in 5G1 B. C.?
fence, but surrendered without a fight. At' this time We are not called upon to harmonize the Bible with
secular chronology any more than nre are expected to
-(617 B. C.) Daniel and his companions and Ezekiel
were carried captive to Babylon. It is from this date
that Ezekiel dates his prophecies, Ezekiel 8.:1 ; 40 : 1.
harmonize the gospel of the Bible n ith secular creeds.
It is for the students of secular chronology to harmonize
Although Nebuchadnezzar took many captives and their records with the Bible. "All Script1u.c given by
much treasure on the second invasion, he did not remove inspiration of God [and the Scriptures quoted above
the nation. H e left a king upon the throne, many people mufit have been given by inspiration of God] is prolit-
in the cities, and the Temple and its sanctuaries. The able for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for in-
government was still recognized, and therefore the pro- struction in righteousness; that the man of God may be
phecy of Leviticus 26: 31-36 could not yet be applied. thoroughly furnished unto all good works". The Bible
It was not yet true "I will make your citiee waste, and is clear and connected, while the worldly records are
bring your sanctuaries unto desolation. . . . and I will acknowletlged to be faulty, disconncctcd, unreliable, ant1
bring the land into desolation". fragmentary. Daniel 12: 10 foretells that the worldly-
The third time was 11 years later. (606 B. C.) The wise will not accept God's Word, and therefore shall not
reCord in 2 Chronicles 36 : 1421 is very explicit, making understand. They will lean unto their own wisdom and
mention of the Temple, the cities and the land. thus be misled, and on "this account God will send to
18 "And all the vessels of the house of God, great and them an energy of delusion, to their believing the false-
small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the hood".--2 Thessalonians 2 : 11.
trensures of the king, and of his princes; all these he It makes no difference to the student of the Bible
brought to Babylon. whether Evil Merodach and Belshazzar were the only
19 "And they burnt the house of God, and brake dotun
the wall of Jerusalem and burnt all the palaces thereof with two kings to follow Nebuchadnezzan until Cyrus; or
are, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof. whether, as some claim, there were several others also,
20 "And them that had escaped from the sword carried nor how long each one is said to have individually
he nwny to Bnbylon, where they were servants to him and reigned. The period is fully covered by the records abovr
his sons until tile reign of the kltlgdom of I'ersla, cited. Besides, the testimony of the larger cycles fully
21 "To fulflll the word of the Lord by the mouth of
Jeremiah, unfil the land had enjoyed her sabbatlu: for as corroborate them, thus making a cable and not a single
long as she [the land1 lay desolate *he kept her sabbath, to thread. Those who are humble enough to rely upon the
fulfill threescore and ten years." Word of God will be wise enough to understand, and
Here is the complete statement in a nutshell-the these are all that are desired by the Lord at the present
axplanation of the desolation of the sanctuaries, the time. I n the near future, when all those kings ant1
waste of the cities, and the desolation of the land, rulers and historians shall have returned, it will be an
"without an inhabitant'? nation. No nation was per- easy matter to straighten out all the snarls. There no
mitted to hold a dwelling on the land while the Jewe adversary will be permitted to interfere.
were in Babylon. Here commenced the fulfilling of the, Recapitulating then, the Bible record is conclusive
prophecies of Leviticus 26 : 31-35; Jeremiah 25 : 8-11; '.
that the first year of Nebuchadnezzar synchronizes with
29 :10 ; 44,:22 ; and Daniel 9 : 2. This shows conclu- the fourth year of king Jehoiakim, which was the year
sively-that the lmd was ta be desolate, to rest for 70 3503 A. M. or 625 B. C. The nineteenth year of Nrlw
years; and that the desolation began a t the downfall chadnezzar coniiects with the eleventh year of Zed~~ki;lh.
of Zedekiah, 606 B. C. and closed at the first year of and was 3522 A. 116. or 606 B. C. Seventy years I a t y ,
 =WATCH TOWER
when the Jews rctnrned to their land, connects with the with a world-wide witness. The results following~tho
first year of Cyrus, and would be 3592 A. M., or 536 aates of 1918 and 1921 indicate more and more distinct-
B. C. Thus 1922 is 6050 A. M., as shown on THE ly that they were turning-points or mile-stones on the
WATCHTOIVBR-3592 plus 536 plus 1922. chronological highway, ancl clearly foreknown and fore-
told by the Designer of the 1)ivinc Plan of the Ages.
STAMPED WITH GOD'8 APPROVAL The trumpet of liberty for the people has been sounding
It was on this line of reckoning that the dates 1874, with ever-increasing volume since 1918, and the world
1914, and 1918 were located; and the Lord has placed is staggering like a drunken man. Never before has it
the stamp of his seal upon 1914 and 1918 beyond any been so inanifest that '"there is nothing covered, that
possibility of erasure. What further evidence do we need? shall not be revealed; neither hid that shall not be
Using this same measuring line, beginning with the known". (Luke 12: 2) All the signs indicate that the
entry of the children of Israel into Canaan, and count- world is in the rapids of the coming cataclysm, unable
ing the full 70 cycles of 50 years each, as clearly indi- to rescue itself, and yet unwilling to accept divine assis-
cated by Jehovah's sending of the Jews into Babylon for tance.-Jeremiah 51 :8, 9.
the full 70 years, it is an easy matter to locate 1925, It seems that God has permitted the adversary to dis-
probahly the fall, for $he beginning of the antitypical connect every other line of chronology prior to the time
jubilee. There can be no more question about 1925 thar. of Cyrus. No.donbt Satan thought he had succeeded
there mas about 1914. The fact that all the things that completely until God overruled that St. Paul should
some looked for in 1914 did not materialize does aot give just the needed information in his writings. To
alter the chronology one whit. Noting the date marked some this is a test of faith. To the consecrated child of
so prominently, it is very easy for the finite mind to God it is another manifestation of God's careful con-
- conclude that all thc work to be done must ccntcr abont sidcmtion for the needs of his children, of his provision
it, and thus many are inclined to anticipate more t l ~ a n for their protection in matters of instruction ant1 rtlifi-
has been really foretold. Thus it was in 1844, in 1874, cation. If others prefer worldly wisdom, that is their
in 1878 as well as in 1914 and 1918. Looking back wc privilege. God has promised that his instruction will
can now easily see that those dates were clearly indi- perfect the "man of Godyy.We need to put on the 'whole
cated in Scripture and doubtless intended by the Lord to armor of God, that we may be able to withstand in
encourage his people, as they did, as well as to be a the evil day, and having done all [this] to stand [hav-
means of testing and sifting when all that some expectrtl ing assured ourselves of God's full provision for our
did not come to pass. That all that some expect to see protection, we need not to worry, but to rely upon him
in 1925 may not transpire that year will not alter the fully and conficlcntlyl'. A prominent part of this armor
date one whit more than in the other, cases. is the shield of faith, in his Word, wherewith we are'
The preparations for the kingdom have been coming able to qaench (ward off) all these darts of unbelief,
on apace, and the announcement of it is being heralded which are liable to wound even unto death.

WITNESSES FOR THE TRUTH

"These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness."-Revelation 5: 14.

I T HAS been a rule for some time observed by the

Bible Students to have a text for the year and a
text for the week for special consideration and
meGitation. The consideration of these texts is intended
vealed the deep things of his Word.-1
9, 10.
OUR MINDS TRANSFORMED
Corinthians 2:

The mind of the new creature is the battle-ground.

to enable the followers of Christ to keep in mind the The mind is that which,is to be transformed. (Roinana
character of the perfect Pattern and to be conformed 12 :2) The figure, then, here given by thc Apostle and
thereto. That this is the proper course for the Christian stated in other phrase is to this effect: As new crea-
is abundantly testified to by the Scriptures. The apostle tures in Christ Jesus our vision is opened. We dcsire to
Paul writing to the church said: "We all, with open have our minds transformed. To do this we are to look
Face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, into God's Word as though we were looking into ti mir-
are changed into the same image from glory to glory, ror; and looking into it we see the reflection of Jeho-
even as by the spirit of the Lord". (2 Corinthians 3: vah's character and the character of his beloved Son;
18) A mirror is used to rcfkct the image of one who ancl thus beholding, the transformation from onc! ile-
loolts into it. I n this instance the Bible is symbolized gree of glory to a greater degree takes place, even by
by a mirror, which Bible reflects the character of J & the spirit of the Lord.
hovah and of the Lord Jesus. The spirit-begotten Last year our week-texts used for the prayer meeting6
anointed ones have their faces opened or unveiled. This related to Jehovah, the Father. This year our week-
is the result of the illumination that comes to those who tex-ts relate to the Son. These various texts enable us
are anointed of the holy spirit. To such God has re- to view the Lord from different standpoints. How, th-.
Oban Lbe talrb dsue% nf muons afth per~1erlgr- tbt! gm rod
tblm comxn~ upon tbs aanb ( c o d e ) ; r e h m
&o tbrt the K l ~ d o mof &j at
po
r
a
n
ug, 0
tbc hpa- (cccle&cm)
w, *,
onu
far lopr ladempdolr
-
(tw mf.ks dlseonkotnl) rolrrln6, -'a
-*-&*
fmbl'U fanu tbnn
mnip k h to
%1:31: W Is:%B:
-
rad f@ w~r b tbD
tcl pur
31:2CIL
 A WEPALD OF CWRBST'S PRESENCE
POL.XLIII JU~1
E, 1922 No. 11

SEVENTY YEARS' DESOLATION (PART 1)

wThsm that had escaped from the w o r d carried he [Nebuclurdnezzar] away to Babylon, where they were servant8
to Aim and hzs sons tmtil the reig~aof the kingdom of P e r k : to fulfil2 the word of the Lord by the
mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths; for as long as she lay desoldte
she kept sabbath to fulfill threesm6 and ten yeurs."-9 Chronicles SO: $0, g2.

F ROM time to time Bible students who quite evi-

dently are either unfamiliar with all the teachings
of present truth or unappreciative of the thorough-
going convincingness of what has been brought out
heresies among you, that they which me [divinely]
approved may be made manifest among you." (1 Cor-
inthlans 11: 18, 19) If any finally decide that they
do not desire to reman with us in our service of the
through the SocietyZ"disco\er" some "error" in proved Lord, they most follow their own consciences; but we
present truth. Without ~ ~ u t l ntog communicate with may rest in the Lord, sssured that, whoever they may
the Society, which could help tl~em,and without making be that leave us, ;'they went out from w, but they were
a thorough search, and althout properly ascertaining not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no
the weight of evidence pnbllslled and the insubstantial- & I ~ M hare continued with us: but they went ant, that
ity of their own "findmgs" (1 Timothy 3 : 6 ;2 Timothy they might be made manifest that they were not dl
4: 4), they rush to communicate their "new" ideaa to of us". (1John 2: 19) These are the promised ahakings
others. A few others, no better grounded in the truth which will shake everything except that which cannot be
than these mistaken leaders, follow their injudicious shaken. (Hebrew6 12:27) However, let the church fear
course, and are led into a state of uncertainty and not the slftinga and ahakings; for these are part of the
doubt; and some of them, especially of the leaders, divinely-promised work of the complete Cleansing of
forsake the way of present truth, abandon the oppor- the church as it a p p h e a the end of the way. (Mat-
tunities and privileges of co-working with God (2 Cor- thew 13 :41 ; Revelation I :15) Rather let the church
inthians 6: 1 ) and of suffering with Christ (Philip of God rejoice at these evidences of the'FatherYsatten-
pians 1 :2 9 ) , separate themselves from those in present tion to ita welfare,-John 15 :2.
truth, lightly leave their crowns to others (Revelation
3 :XI), and make ~ h i p m kof their glorious hopea. WEEN Dm THE -8 YEARS BEGIN?
(1 Timothy 1 :19) The uniform experience in all such This time it is the matter of the date cd the be@ning
abandonment. of the faith and in the divisions so in- of the seven@ years' desolation of Jndea and of whether
augurated is that they start out with a loud noise of it was all desblotion or all captivity. This is testing the
professions of loyalty to abstract troth and soon dimin- faith of some. This has been fully and adcgiatdy C ~ V -
ish in numbern and zeal untll either wholly scattered or ered by Pastor R~nssellin "The Time I s at Hmdyy,
~ettledd o ~ uinto a state of inactivity--of "~\~aitlnp
upon pages 51, 52, and 111 great detail in Dr. John and itlorton
the Lortl", as tiley me plcssed to term their slothfrllness Bdgar's 'Great Pyramid Passages", Volume 2, p~t&es
in service. 29-31; to both of which works we refer our rcaders.
On account of their smallness of numbers, each of But for the benefit of those not having BU the 111for-
thew p u p s regards itself tho Tittle flock". There are mation at hand we will review the salient points, to
a dozen such schismatic 'little flocks", cha,r&erlzed by bring them again dearly to remembrance.-2 Peter 3 :1.
an increasing littleness and by an absence of the pre-
dicted glorious activity in the warfare of the Lamb with SEVENTY YEARS' DESOLATION, NOT C A p T m r ~ y
the beast. (Isaiah 61 :2; Revelation IT :14) The r e d t Concerning the desolation Pastor Russell mys: cT&er
i s a slight temporary diminution of the amount of work dates the seventy years' desolation eighteen years earlier
done in his name, w i t h a more than compensating in- than shown above. .. . He evidently makes the not un-
crease of zeal among those holding the faith. common &take of regarding those seven9 years as a
Tbese occurrences are the periodic siftings and shak- period of cuptivity, whereas the Lard - 4 ~ declares
Sngs which the Lord has foreknown and which are ed- them to be seventy years of dcsolatia, of the land, that
dently necessary to cleanse and purify the church; for the land should Iie 'desolate, without an f i b i b f . , $
9here be divisions amcmg you. . .. There mnst also be
188
The yesn were yeam of deaohtion, not cap
 SWATCH TOWER
tivity. This is shown in the Scriptural hiatoncal record, though not inspired, ~ w u l dnot record the se~entyyears
which a n n o t be otherwse un(lcrstood, a i d according to as a "desolate" or "descrtf' state which Ilegan after the
whlch the SCBCII~Y p a l s d1c1 not hegin nntil ufter the destruct~onof Jerusalelt~,had t h ~ snot been the actual
overthrow of the la& king, Zcdckiall, 111 606 13. C.: c.onclit~on,as generally l;uo\\n by 111s people. It may
"Them that haci escaped from the snord cnrrled he hate bee11 poes~l~le fo-r Josephus to be unceitain lu. some
[Nebuchaclnezzar, m GOG B. C.] nt\ ay to Eabjlou, n bere detalls of ol~scureciates, b11t i t is beyond the b o ~ ~ n dofs
they were servants [for scvenl~xcars] to h l ~ nand to possibihty for liml to ha\-e been misttiken about such
his sons, until the I-clgn of the kmg(tom of Persra tun- all m~portant,o~~tstal~dlng ftlct of his people's lustory.
der Cyrus, 53G U. C.3 to fullill the \void of the Lord The Jews of that time were far more hkely to h o w
by the n~outllof Jcrcnnd~,nntll the land had ei~joycd the simple fact, \\-hethcr those w r e seventy years of
her sal>l>atl~sfor a3 long as she luj dcso!ate she kept desolation or of cnptl\ity, than is eonle over-zealous hut
sabbath, to fulfill tl~rccscorcand years*'. (2 Cllroiu- less 1ixornledor nliccinf ormed scl~olar,doctor of dlt inlty,
cles 36 20, 2 1 ) 'l'liis pas=.qy l)ra!s of s~m~lltuneousor student of the present day. For our part, we prcfer
desolutron, scrvltude a i d captl~~t!. to take our stand wit11 tlte dlvincly directed metlilntor,
c ~ R c s th.ll rtccolat ion rneaus "wi th- Moses, the inspired prophet Jerelmah, and the ancient
Other ~ : ~ F ~ ; sho\vlng
out an 1n11ab1tzln.t" are as follo~\ls: h~ctor~nn of the JeinsB nation, a11 of 11-11om agree that
tci . ,~ndtlzy elties sl~allbe
Cc'l'o~ 1 . 1 1 ~thy
1 ~ iand desc~7a
t Ilcce "smtenty gears" tvew years of desoltlcrt wn, rather
laid I\ rt5t.e 1u21h 07d ct,n rnltlnbr t n n i . 'Jcre~nlclfr4 :7. thaq of c.q)tl\ it?- -the ctlptlt lty bcgmi~ngat a11 earher
date a i ~ dbelng a differeilt thing.
"I 1\~11In~dccthe clt~crol Jutla11 clesolnte, wathout an
(nltab rttmt.'' - -J cr?rniah 9 : 11 DETAILS OF PEOFHECY AND FULFILL'LIEST
" h i t h ~ place.
s v h~:h>-e e q :boll be clesolnte. .~crtlrorrt
main ao~dwtthoztt licfr\f, even 111 the citles of Judafi, izud Iu. the ~tliplrcdp r o l ~ ~ofl ~Hoses . ~ one of the im-
in thc stlmcets of- 3el ur:alcm." -,Tcreminh 33 : 10. portant sibbat11 rests \\-as the fiftieth year: "A jr~hlee
[ S O U I ~ ~ ~ofI IMIYCT
~ trumpet^]
"I \\ 111 make the clt~e,of JncI~1ia de~olattottw ~ t k o u t unto you: ye shall not sow, aelthe~reap sl~fljlthnt fiftieth year be
an ~nibcaLztnnt.':--;Tcre~~~tnh 34 : 82. that \i*hlcl~
glou-eth of ~t-elf 111 it, nor guthcr the grapes ~1 it of
Others that mtght hc quctcd +are Jeremiah 2 :15 ;
44 : 22 ;m ~ d51 :31, all ~l\o\\llngthnt the prechcted ST- thy vine undressed. For it is the philee; z t shall be
enty years' desolatioi~I ~ e l t ~-51 l t period sf that length
holy unto you; ge ahnll eat the Increase thereof out of
in ~vhlchthe land should. be "w~thout an ~nhatitant". the field."--Lel dicus 2 5 :11.
Thls stah was never reached, or even begun, until after %he Jews, through unbelief in God's promue(1 abnn-
the overthroqrv of Zedekiah, the removal of the people dance, faded to give the laud its sit1)hath regt on even
to Babylon, and the flight of the small remiia~itinto one of the nineteen j11111lees \rhich trallqnred between
Egypt for fear of the Cl~aldeans(Jeremiah*43 : 1-'i), their entrance into Palest~ne (1515 B. C.) and the
leaving the land, as dlvinely predicted, "desolate, 1~1th- overthro~rof Zedeklrrh (606 B. C.) . God foreknew t11u
out an ~nf~abltant,"for ''threescore and ten years". unlxdlef, and foretold, thpol~g'htlte prophet Itlosm, that
if they faded to keep the la\\- of tlle jltlulee the laud
HISTORICAL CONFIRXATION vra5 dc~tii~cd to ha\ e its ctivlnely-nppolnbtt julnlee rest
The Jewish historian Josephns? I\ ritir~gafter the oc- through n co1111ng ctesclation, durii~gtrhich he would
currence and esprcssing the k~owleclgeof all J e ~ g - scatter then1 among the natioar, a year of desolation
who certainly were conk ersant, tt ith the facts- s a p that without ail nil~nhitantfor. each 11eglecta-l jrrb~leegab-
the seventy gears nere yeare of de,oolntcon after the fall bath year: "And I wlll scatter yo11 among the heathen.
of the c ~ t yw d e r Zedclaah: "He [Nebuchadnczzar] anrl ~i 11 clraw arrt a sward after you : and your land
reduced then1 dl, and sct our tcmple which was at hall be clcsolate, and your cities waste. 'I'lial shall the
Jerusalem on fire [2 Chroiucles 36 : 19-21], nay, re- lalltl enjoy her ~abbnths,as loilg as ~t Ileth desolate,
moved our people entirely out of their own couutry, aut1 ye be in your eneln~e$ land; even then ~ k a l lthe
and transferred them to Bab~lon;lvl~enit so happened land rest, and enjoy her sakbaths. AF long as it lieth
that our city was desolate during the interval of seveoaty desolate ~t shall rest; Because ~t dicl not rest in your
years, until the d q a of Cyrus klng of Persia".--Apion eabhaths, \v\-31eilye dwelt upon ~t.)~-le~-i t ~ c n s26 :33-35.
1:19. The accurate Bible stucicnt a 111 not overlook that the
In anather place Josepln~sreltcrates 11iq statenlent ss prophcated sabbath rest for the land comb~ileda desa-
to the seventy gears of cleso,lation: "But the k111g of lation of the land \nth al).scncr?of the .Jem from that
Babylon, \\.ha brougllt out the two trilxs rJoda11 and land. Thls conhilled rcqurrel~lent llever began until
Bcnjamin], placcd no otlier llatloa in thm coui~try,by after the overthrotv of Ze<;t!il3h. In 606 33. C. It mould
which means all Judea and Jerusalem, and the temple, be a denial of the p r o p h q of Leviticus to assert that
c o ~ t i n r ~tod be a desert for seventy yearsgJ.-Ant. AX, the mere captivity of some of the Jew, their mere
8: 7. servitude as a tributery natlon, met the divinely-fore-
It :a quite obvious that a Jewish historian, even told "desolation tvlthout an idlabitant". The priine
 =WATCH TOWER
reij~nrcmentIVRS desolatzon, riot captivity or servituc2e- land. Cyrus peimltted part of the Jew ta return
de~oI~lfi09~ con~h19ted w ~ t l lcapttvrty afrd servztuch was that ycar. Part of t h c n ~remazned captive and did not
the dl\lilw p~ni~lts.To insist that this seventy year return till the se\enth )ear of the r e p of Artrsxersea
prophec~Ineunh sen itucle withot~tdesolnt WII.of tlie land ( h a 1-46'? 13. C.) and otliers ttll the tisentlet11 )ear
1s to igilore the IVorrl of God gn cn thiotlgh bdoses, and of tlle same king- ((Nehemiah 2--454 B. C.) So long
no such idea can be true uor call those adherug to it wcrc some stdl m cnptiv~tythat, according to later
I I ~their course. As will be shown,
hake UocYs ~ ~ C S S I on history, they wondered rf the "seve~~ty years" were not
f;ll~si~otioui eat; n p n pagan nallrl ilcnloi~ tstic support figarative, and nmny never ret~~rinled from captivity. If
and lrac?s into other errolms,a moltlsc; of doubts, and tho ca $11 lty of some of the Jews and not the desohtton
ultimately illto higher crltlczenl and ~nii(lchty. of Jei*u:alem ancl of J udea constituted the chief feature
in the srvent~-yearsprophecy, then the question might
I'ROPHECY L?SD FULFILLMEWT be properly asked, Ras the period yet encled?-for some
As the aj~poi~:tcdt i n ~ efor the clesolatto~iand sab- never retunled to their own land. Such coiiaiclerations
batlc rest of the lnllrt ;tpproachc.rl, the Lord, in harmony show how the neglect or perversion of some part of the
wlth his policy of lnf'olnllr~gof evils to conle, revealed Bibllcal statemelits both makes the Word of God of
throz~ghJereiii~ali,u ithout' stet-t~ng \\ lzen, that the period none effect and leads off rnto entiless doubts md confus-
of coiitemporaaeous dcsolatlon, her\ itucle, and captivity ing questions. Thls is charocter~stlcof the deceptive
was to be heveilty yearq Clzus nlbo llltlicatlng the total methods of demons.
length of the ~ t l h ~ l eystc111
e as 50 s SO, or 3,500 years:
'<And t h ~ sn~lzoleland shall bc a desulatzott, aud an NO CAPTIVITY UNDER JEROIAKIM
astonishmel~t;and these aat~ollss11a11 sene the klng of Blshop Usher, and others following his lead, have
Baljylon seventy years. Ancl ~t shall cotne to pass. when fathered an m~scnpttzralidea that there was a captivity
se~cntyyears are acconzplislled, that I wlll punl~llthe of the Jews hy hTebuchac1nezzar in the fourth (or thlrd)
krizg of Bztbylon, and that ~lat~oiz, gnith the I ~ r d ,for year of Jehoiaklm (G25 B. C.) 18 (or 19) years before
then miqzuty, and the land of the Chnldeans, and will the seve~~ty years' desolntiou begail at the fall of Zede-
make ~t ~erpet~zal [lnstlng] desol,ztionsJ'-- as B5esopo- kinh (606 l3. C.). They unagine that the seventy years'
tamia stlll 1s.-Jeremiah 25 :11,12. desolatloll were seventy years' captivity, dating from the
"After seventy years be acconlplished [by the entire fourth (or tlurd) )-calmof Jehoiakim, and consisting of
nation] at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my 18 (or 19) years' captivity alone plus 52 (or 51) years'
good word toward you, in causing you to return to this captivity and desolat~oncombined. The fact is, as seen
~lace.'~-Jeremlal~29 : 10. from the above m(2ntloned Scriptures, that there were
The historic record of fulfillnlent of seventy years ~ c i v ~ p~atrys of cn11tn lty coincrdmt w ~ t hseventy year$
desolation is plaii~lystated in the Bible, as well in desolntton.
Jewish history : "As long as she [the land of Paledme] The effect of this misconception upon the chronology
lay desolate sllc kept snbbath, to fulfill threescore and ten of the Bible \vould be to show that the desolat~onwas
yearsN.-2 Cliron~clcs36 : 21. iLrnnetce11 years shorter than it really was, or that we
It would be a quibble to assert that this does not count the nineteen year period twice, and thus make the
mean seventy years of sabbath rest in desolation. period of time prior to the desolation nineteen years
The date for the b e p ~ n i u gof the seventy years' too long.
desolation of ,Yeremiah'< propliecy lvas not uu&erstood
NO CAPTIVITY NOR VASSALAGE IN 625 B. C
clearly a t the time by either the Prophet or the people.
A doctr~neshould never be based on a passage of
It was not until the first year of Darius the Meder (538
B. C.) that Dnnlel began first to understand from rr doubtful meaning, rcsdlng, or authenticity. Thls error
study of the Books of Jeremiah and Leviticus that the is based upon the rending of a passage which is inl~ar-
seventy years of desolation were then up: 'cIn the first monious (1) with the rest of the Smrptwe record of
ycar of his panus', 538 33, C.]reign, I Daniel under- the attacks by Nebuchadnezzar upon Judea and Jeru-
stood by books the number of the years, whereof the salem, and (2) with other Scriptures.
word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that A little scrutiny of Daniel 1: 1, 2 shows that there is
he n.o~tlclaccomplish seventy years in the desolations of something the matter with it. The passw in our Com-
Jerrtsalern". (Dantel 9: 2) As usual, tlie propllecy was mon Version reads: ''In the third year [626 B. C.] of
not understood until its fulfillment. the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judnh came Nebuchad-
Daniel, as a wise and s~zccessfulgovernor, came at nezzar king of Babyion unto Jerusalem, and besieged it.
once into high favor with Dariz~sthe Mede (Cyarases And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his
11-538 B. C.) and then with Cyrus (536 B. C.), and hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God,
doubtless did something toward infiuenclng the Persian which he carried into the land of Shinar, to the house
mo~mch's mind favorably toward the Jews, in brjnging of his god; and he brought lhe vessels into the treasurs
to an end the ~evantyyears' empty desolateness of their hq11- of his god."
617 B. CrJehoiakimfs eleventh year-and
- WATCH TOWER
These events, ss cpe shall see, actually took plncc in
included
tine from Egwyptto Babylon. Pharaoh-necho was prob-
ably three or more years on this campaign.--Compare
(1) the attack by Nebucl~ndnezzarthree ?/ears after 2 Chronicles 35 :20 ;36 : 1.
Jehoiakim Began payinq tnbtlte (620 B. C.) ; (2) the The two dates-third and fourth y e a r ~ a n n o tbe
taking of some of the Temple vessels to Babylon in reconc~led;and as the fourth year was the first year
617 B. C. when J e l ~ o ~ ~ l ~ eleventh-year
im's and Jehoin- of Nebuchadnezzar, we must conclude that the "third
chin's three-months reigns were formbly ended by Ne- year'' mel~tloneclin Daniel 1: 2 refers to another third
buchadneasr (617 R. C . ) ;and '(3) the first taklng of year than the third year of Jehoinkim's reign proper-
the first captives to Babj-1011 at the same time. Thiz the third year of his var~alageto Babylon, which began
was eleven years before the final captlvlty and the be- in 620 B. C. and ended 11-ith 111s rebclllon and death In
ginning of the "dewolation" of thc l a ~ l d . 617 B, C.
The foreign relntio~uof Jeho~akim wcre hrl~flyaa According to the Jewish historian Josepl~us,the reign
follows : of Jeholtlliin~included no Chaldean attack on Jerusalem
For eight years (628-620 B. C.) he was twblrtmy to insthe fir& year of Nebuchadnezzar (Jehoinkim's fourth
Egypt or at least non-tributary to Bal>\lon: ",411d Phnr- yem-625 73. C.), but the first attack come four y e m
aoh-nechoh made Eliakim the son of Jouah k ~ n gm later, in Nebuchadnezzar's fifth year (Jehoialrimya
the room of Josiah his fnther, and tun1c.11 hls name to eighth year-621 B. C.), and the vassalage of Jello~a-
Schoiakim. ... And Jchoiakim gave thc silver and the kim's country dated from that or the next year (620
B. C. ) . This clarifies Daniel 1:1, 2, showing "the
gold to Pharaoh; but he tasetl the land to give the
money according to the conlmnnd~nentof Pharaoh : he third pear" to refer to the third of Jehoiakimysrelations
esacted the silver and gold of tllc people of the land, with Babylon, and not tb the third gear of his eleven-
of every one according to his tasation, to give it unto year reign. Josephus says :
Pharaoh-nechoh."--2 Kings 23 :34. 35. "Now in the fourth yenr of the reign of Jelloinkim [625
B. C.] one whose name mas Nebuchndnezzar took the gov-
I n his eighth year Jeholakim was forced to begin ernment over the Babylon~ans,who at the same time went
pa \ ing trrhute to BnIn lon. Dnnng his eleventh and last up with a great nrlny to the city Carchemish, which \ras at
E l ~ p l , ~ r iupon
~ t ~ ,a resoltltlon he hncl taken to fight with
which ~~*ould l ~ othe thtrd year of his vassalage to
Ncl,ucha~lnezznr(63"r- C.), he attempted an alliance Nec-0, king of Egypt, under whom (111 Syria then was.
The king of Rtlbglon passed over Euphrates, and took all
...
I\ ~ t l lI;',g~l)t.
and refused to pay the pro~n~scd tnhute to Syr~a,as far ns Peluslum, except ittg Juclen.
13alwlon. This course brought upon him t l ~ ewrath of "But a hen Nebuchndaezzar had already re@~ed four
K(.l~~,uchn.clnezzar, a Chaldean invasion, his own death, years [621 B. C.] wllfch w - a ~the ctlgl~thof Jehoink~m's
a~lcl f i e captivity of 111s successor, Jehoiachin, many government oyer the Hebrett-s, the kill= of Babylon tilade
JCIIS~ ~nclud~ng Daniel. (2 Kings 24: 12) Zedekiah an eswlition with mighty forces against the Jews, and
required tribute of Jellotnkim, ilnd threatened, npon lib
a a h then placed upon thc t.lirnllr BR Nehchadnezmr'~ refitwl, to make mar against him. He wTnsaffrighted at his
vassal. and relgnecl eleven \-car-. until dethroned in threatening and bought his peace with money, and brought
606 B. C. the tribute he mas ordered to bring for three years [until
Jeboitlkim's eleventh and last year, 617 B. C ]
THIRD SEAR OF JEIIOJAKIM'S VASSALAGE "But on #he third ucat [Daniel 1: 11, upon hearing that
the k~ngof the Bnbybnians made [or probably planned]
A discrepancy in Daniel 1: 1,2 is mandest in the an expeclitlon against the Egyptims, he did not pay his
date, "the third year of Jehoiakim" (626 B. C.) ; for tribute ; yet \lrnsdisappointed of his hope, for the Egyptians
this would have been one year prior to the beginning durst not fight at this time."LAnt. IX, 15: 1, 2
of Nebuchndnezzar's reign, .which began in the fourth The Bible record of this is in 2 Kiqp 24:1-25 :7.
year of Jehoiakim (625 13. C.), when Nebuchadnezzar Josephus makes no mention of an attack on the Jewe
defeated Pharaoh-necl~ohof Egypt: "Against the army by Babylon in 625 B. C., but specifically says that Judea
of Pharaoh-necho kiog of Egypt, which was by the river was excepted then f ~ o mthe general attack. The-Jews,
Euphrates in Carchcn~ish,which Nehchadnezzar king on account of their numbers and the strength of their
of Babylon mote in the fourth yeear of Jehoiakim''. inland and easily defended mm~ntainposition, were let
(Jeremiah 46 :2) "The fourth year of Jehoiahm, the alone for four years (until 621 B. C.), after which
$on of Josiah king of Jndah, that' was the first gear of their vassalage to Babylon began. There KW no cap
Nebuchailnezzar king of Babylon."-Jeremiah 25 :1. tiwty of the inhabitants until the fall of Jehoiakirn and
Cmchemish is by the river Euphrates in the land of of Jehoiachin in 617 B. C. This is according to Jewish
Mesopotamia or Babglonis. The king of Egypt had records, but the commonly accepted idea ignores Jewish
passed by Judea and a s s some 400 miles to the ea& history for the rcason that it cannot make them agree
Babylon at this time was not a world power but this with the notorio~lsly~zntrustworthypqan records.
victory by Nebuehadnezvlr broke the power of the king The "third year of Jehoiakim" (Daniel 1 :I ) wsa
of Egypt, and Kebuchadnezzar was quick to follow his therefore the third full year of his vassalage to Nebu-
advantage and drove the king of Ebmt back to his o m ehndnezzar which wea the end of his eleven-year reign
n~~ntry, thns changing the nomind control of Wles- (617 B. C.). The Daniel 1 :1 record was w15tten in
 WATCH TOWER
Babylon and took the Choldean viewpoint of the third at Babylon kept the minds of the captives in unrest'bj
year of Jehoink~m's relatronship with Babylon. The predlctlug only a brief captivity. To quiet this unrest
events which then took place agree with the Scrlpturd Jerermah, in 617 B. C., in s letter (Jeremiah 29 : 1-23)
record of the tukmg of some of the Temple vcssels and counseled the captives to settle down and make them-
of many =Te\is cuptlve illto Babylon in 617 B. C., eleven selves as comfortable as possible in ant~clpat~on of a
years before the desolation; long period away from home, bemuse the seventy years
-to begin in 606 B. C.-were surely to be accomphhed
FlItST CAYTIVIT,Y BEGAN 617 B C at Babylon. (Jeremiah 29 : 10) No one knew then wl~en
The record of tllc historian Josephus of the caphvit~es the seventy years were to begin. This was not understood
of the Jcli s 111 617.B.C.-the first of the captivities- by Damel tdl the first year of Darlus. (Dsmel 9: 1,2)
is as folio\\-s : It is asserted that Jeremiah's letter (617 B. C.) marked
''Sc~rv :i 11 tile time afterwards (617 B. C.], the king of the begmning of the "seventy years"; but this is not
E.\b>lo11 made 311 expedxtion against Jehoinkim, whom he the case. As a matter of fact, the Prophet had uttered
lece~lctl[ ~ n t othe city], and th!s out of fear of the fore- this very warning in 625 B. C. (Jeremiah 25: 1-38;
ng precl~ct~ons
~ C I I of tlus prophet [Jeremiah ], as supposing
that he sllould stiffer nothing that \iras terrible, beakuse he 29 :11,12), eight years before there was any captivity
neither shut the gates nor fought against him; get, when at dl;for Judea and Jerusalem were not molested in
be wns come into the c ~ t g he
, did not observe the covenants 625 B. C. nor until four years later, when Jehoiakim,
which he, had made, but he slew such as were in the flower under fear of Nebuchadnezzar's threats, became a trrbu-
of their age, and sucli as were of the greatest d~galty,to- tary vassal to Babylon.
gether with tllelr king Jeholakim, whom he commanded to
be thrown before the \\*rills, without any burial, and macle m e various nations also were to serve Babylon sev-
h i s son Jel~olsellmkrng of the country and of the city : he enty years, but the servitude of different nations began
SO took tile pI'lncjpt.il PerSOllS in d i g ~ l i tlor
~ mPttWs, a&different bmes, from Phlli&,ia in 625 down to Tyre
tlir.ee thouqnnd in number, and led them away to Babylon,
among whom \vas the prophet EzekreI, who was then but in 606 (or 605) B. C., the latter city's preliminary
youtlg."--~n t. S, 1;:8. slege beginning (618 B. C.) thirteen years before ~ t s
~h~ Bible record of this captivity at the close of fall (605 B. C.) according to the articl-e on N e b u c W
Jehol&lm9s r e i p is given in 2 Kings 24 :2-6 ;2 Chroni- nezznr in 'Smith's Blble D i c t i o w * The predicted
cles 36 : 6 ;Daniel 1 :1, 2; and Jeremiah 22 :13-19. I n seventy years' servitude of all the nations was, however,
t ~ ~matter
is many writers on this sr~lxjecthave been mis- pradlcaliy coincident with the seuwty lreard desolation
led by ottempt&g to hsrmonlze thc& events with nnre- of Judea, though some served more than seventy years.
11able pagan records. The pagans in all their affairs No one date prior to 606 B. C. esn be set ae meeting
were under den~onisticinfluence, a~dto attempt to fol- all the requmments of the prophecy of Jeremiah 25:
low them in doubtful matters is to fall into error and 13-28. A seventy-year perlod upon Tyre had been prophe-
enhn,nlenlent. sied by Isaiah (23 :15-18);and aa this agrees in terms
In the ~ a m egear (617 B. C.), three months later, with the Jeremiah prophecy (Jeremiah 25 :11, 22), the
toolc place the second part of the initial captn ity of seventy years' servitude of Tyre to Babylon could not
the Jetvs, under Jehoiachin, to Babylon. (Jeremiah 52 : have begun earlier than 60G or 605 B. C. Any close
28) Thu i s described by Josephus as follows: elramlnatlon then of the facts shows that'not even the
"But terror seized on the king of Bztbj Ion, m*ho had given prophecy of seventy years' servitude or captivity upon
tl~ekingdom to Jehoinchin and that immediately; he tvns the nations began to be fulfilled on all of them in 625
nfi-aid t b t he should bear him a grudge, bemuse of his B. C. nor earlier than 006 B. C. The expression 'of
killing of his father, and tberwupon should make the coun- Isaiah 23: 15 is that -re shall be forgotten seventy
try revolt for him; wherefore he sent at1 army and b e
sieged Jel~oirrchlni n Jertisnlern ; bnt because he wvas of a years [as an independent peopleJ ,according to the days
gentle and just dispositzon, he did not desire to see the city of one king [kingdom, empire]". Knowing that in
endangered on his account, but he took his mother and prophecy 'long" is often used for "kingdom" (Daniel
kindred, and deli\-ered them to the comn~anderssent by 11 :11-14,etc.), the "one king" evidently refers to the
the kiog of! Bnbylon, and accepted of their oaths, that
neither should they suffer any harm nor the city, wluch aeventy-year dominion of Babylon from 606 to 536 B. C.
agi~ementthey did not observe for a single year; for the No other explanation of these passages meets all the
king of Bnbplon did not keep it, but gave orders to his condihons of prophecy and fulfillment.
gerlernls to take all that were in the city captives, both A further dficulty comes b light in comparing
the youth and the handier& men, and bring them bound
to liitn; their number was ten thousand eight hundred and Daniel 1 with Dmiel 2. I n Daniel 1 the statement is
thirty-tw\o ; as also Jehoiachm, and his mother and friends; that the four Hebrew lads were given three years train-
and when they were brought to him, he kept them in ing before presentation to the king. (Daniel 1:5,18-20)
cu.;tody, and appointed Jehoiacllin's uncle Zedekflnh to be In Daniel 2: 1 it is stated that Daniel was brought
klncW.-Ant. S, 8 :1.
The Bible record of this is in 2 Engs 24: 10-17; before the king and revealed and erplained the image
2 Chronicles 36: 9, 10; and Jeremiah 52: 28. dream in Nebukhadnezzar's second year, which would
After the departure of Jehoiachin and the Jewish thus have been a year or tao before they were pre-
captives to Babylon, some false prophfi+a among them sentnil to the king as recorded in Daniel 1:18 1 The
 *WATCH TOWER
Variorum Bible faot-note reading for "seoond" is B. C.), but from the end of Jehoiachin's three-rnozlths'
"twdfth", the ~'secondy'being evidently a slip of a eopy- reign and the beginning of Zedekiah's (61r B. C.) a
ist's pen, like the dip of the pen from eighteen to eight date which by no method of reckoning can be made
in 2 Chronicles 36: 9 and 2 IGngs 24: 8. the begnning of a seventy years' captivity. References
The "twelfthJ' year of Nebuchadnezzar agrees with to this are numerous in Ezelael, as, ''the fifth year of
the facts. It would be in the year 614 B. C. (625 minus king Jehoiachin's captivity" (Ezekiel 1:2), "in the
11 equals 614), three years otter the captlvity of Daniel five and twentieth year of our captlvity"(Ezekiel40 :l),
and the other three Hebrew lads, Ezelriel and others, and numerous other verses. The capt~veJews knew
and the expiration of their three years' training - nothing of a captivity beginning In Jeholiikimys foui%h
three years after 617 B. C., or 614 B. C. (Daniel 1: year, or Nebuchadnezzsr's first year. If there had been
6, 19) Thus the disclosure of the truth about Daniel such s captiv~tyit would naturally have beell rnentloned
1:1 and 2 :1 removes the ent~refoundation for the elsewhere than in the doubtfully-dated Daniel 1: 1.
notion that the Hebrew cnptlvlty began in 625 B. C. These fads dispose of the nssertlon thnt the s c ~ a l t y
and that 625 B. C. was the beginning of the 70 years. years' captivity began in G25 13. C., ant1 sho~tthnt so far
No one lmew better than the captive Jews in Babylon as the B~bleand Jewish history are concc~rne~l our cbro-
when their captivity began. They never dated the initial nology, which places the beginning of the "se'sevenkj
captlvity from the first year of Nebuchadnezzar (625 years" in 606 B. C., is correct.

GENERAL CONVENTION A T CEDAR POINT

D URING the past two years there has been a great situated two good hotels, The Breakers and The Cedars,
demand for another geneial convention. The
high cost of transportation and of hotel amom-
modationa hsa been the diief cause for not holding such
which accommodate approximately 3800 people. Coot1
accommodations can also be had at Sandusky. A flat-J*ltc
of $2.00 per day has been made to all of the bretllren
..

a convention. But realizing the importance of a general attending the convention. This will include room ant1
assembly of the Lord's consecrated ones for a season three meals, to be served of first-class food. When the
of fello\rship
-
together,
- an effort has been put forth to capacity of the hotels and other aceommodations on the
mange for a general convention for 1923.- peninsula are exhausted, the overflow will be p l w l 1n
The conventron held at Cedar Point, Ohlo, in 1919, Sondusky in private homes and hotels; and the manage-
is ge11emlly conceded to have been the greatest ever ment of Cedar Point has agreed to provide these qnnr-
held durlng the harvest period, and frequently the ters at the same mte, and to transport by boat all who
brethren are heard to say that they long for another will necessarily have to go from Sandushy to Cctinr
such convention. We are glad to announce that arrange- Po~nt,back and forth, free of charge.
ments are practically complete for holding another gen- We shall have the a~clusiveuse of the auditoriums,
eral convention at Cedar Point on beaut~fulLake Erie, whlch have been improved since we were there before.
beginning September 5 and continuing for eight, and The weather is u s ~ ~ d lideal
y in the &st part of Sep-
posslbly ten, days. tember; and we may find it advant+zgeousto hold out-
door meetings, as was the case m 1919.
TO BE AT CEDAR POINT, OHIO There are a number of colporteurs and others of the
Cedar Point is situated on a narrow peninsula jutting Lord's dear consecrated ones who may find it difficult
out from the Ohio mainland lnto Lake Erie. It has to get to the convention and pay their expenses. Hence
the advantages of the lake from three sides. For quiet- an arrangement has been made that the management of
ness and seclt~sionwe know of no better place. The Cedar Point will employ approxunately two hundred to
friends can be practically alone during the convention ass~stin taking care of the rooms, chechng the linen,
and have meet fellowship together. The grounds are assisting in the dming room and the kitchen. Able-
situated some two mlles across the bay from Ssndusb, bodied brothers and sisters can engage in this service
Ohio, which is reached by ferry, as well as by a roadway ; if they so desire, and for this assistance will receive
and those who will attend from the outside will, be their room and board free. Those who wish to engage
people who are truly interested in knowing something in this work should make application to our Convention
about Gsd'e Word, and it will be a real joy to have Committee in advance of the time of the convention.
thcm present and render any assistance we can to them It IS the Association's desire to have all the colporteurs
in ulldcrota~lct~ngthe divine plan. in the United States and Canada to attend this conven-
tion, if possible.
'L'he Boeckling Company, desiring to how its appre
cir tion of the B~blestudents, has rrrraitged to let the MEETINGS FOR FOREIGN FRIENDS
Awnciation have the exdusive use of the hotels, halls, In addition to the English-speaking brethren, it is the
gyunds, ete, of Cedar Point for its oonwntion, which desire to have the foreign brethren attend this conven-
dl begin September 6 a t maon. On t h i e peninsula are tion, a h ; and thq w i l l have their sepsrate meeting
 mmlne upon tba earth (8mletl). for Iha powers of Lha hearam ( r c l e s l d c L w ) lhd br ahrken . ..
a* enrib dfstresj of nnllons alth perplex1W; tba rr and Ih; a;nu (the m e s s , dlrmntnnted) rosrlog: men'# m r t c fnllfnl them for fear rod tar laaklq te
@b
Lba Klnedom of aod L rt ' b n d IaoL w. Hlt up ,om hudr. njoloa, Isr mp ndcmptlon drbwtb oU-)l.tt
When Ye see them t b l n p begla to mms tn :uq
14: 33: Mark 13: 29: W e 21: 28-8L
 SEVENTY YEARS' DESOLATION (PART 11)
"Thenz that l ~ n descaped from the sword carried he [Nebt~chadnezzar]away to Bab!jlon, where they. toen
servants t o h i m and his sons until the reign of the kingdorlt of Persia: to fulfill the word of the Lord
by the mouth of Jercntiah, until the land had enjoged her sabbaths; for a s long as she lay
dcsolate she lccpt sabbath to fulfilltl~rccscoreand ten years."-2 Chronicles 30: 20,-21.

A PEW of our readers have been somewhat con-

fused in their ~~t~dcrstantliugof present-trnth
chronology by the claim that i t tlocs not agree
with ancient secular history. This carries the inference
are the Greek writers Herodotus (450 B. C.) and
Ptolemy (150 A. D.) and the Chaldean writer Berosus
(260 11. C.). Concerning Herodotus as a cchistorian"
the facts are as follows :
that the chronology canilot be correct u~llessi t is in I n the article on "Medesy' "Smith's Bible Dictionary"
agreement with secular-pagan history and rhronology, says :
and that this agrrcmrnt is ciesirable and indispcnsal~lc. "Ttrnt the cl~ronologicnlc1t~tc.s[of IIeroilotus] are improb-
We present some coasideratioiis from which the rcarler able, cuid even coittradictory, has been a frequent subject
may judge whether it is desirable to aitcinpt to rely of complaint. . . . Recently it has been shown that the
upon prehistoric pagan records derived from gentile whole [Herodotus] schen~eof (lutes is artificial, and that
"history" and from the inscriptions on Assyrian monu- the very names of the kings, except in a si~lgleinstance,
ments. are unhistorical. . . . The Median kingdom did not coln-
EARLY PAGAN "HISTORY" UNRELIABLE mence so early as Herodotus imagined. . . . The Deioces and
Phraortes of Herodotus are removed from the list of his-
A change was made some two hundred years ago from torical personages altogether."
the ancient and true belief in seventy years' desolation Dr. Francis Ilrown, 11. n., of TJnion Theological
of*the land to seventy years' captivity. This was done
Seminary, comments thus on the relative accuracy of the
by ecclesiastics to make the Bible record agree with unconscientious Greek "historians" and the writers of
pagan records, and was in thorough harmony with the
the Bible:
spirit of compromise that has possessed ecclesiasticism
since the time (325 A. D.) when Constailtine, under "The Grt3eks told fairy-tales that entertuii~etltheir readers,
but were largely untrue. Tlie Hebrews, with their nearer
demon influence, transformed the independent true position, and more frequent menlorable contact, had also a
church of God into a servile religious department of coltzcientiousness and skill in u~inalisticwriting which made
the pagan governmentwhich it is today. It is nothing their evidence in regiirtl to tile l~istoryof their neighbors
to b(! surprised at that a ch~~rchianit,y con~posedlargely iinportu~~tid t r u ~ i ~ v o ~ t l ~ y . " ' ~ ~ ~ s y r i o l oIta
g y : Use and
Abuse," p. 50.
of pagans and demon worshipers, should prefer pagan GUESSES OF "AUTHORITIES"
and dcmoii iilfluei~ced records to the straightforward When almost any bit of "historf' of the prehistoric
and truthful records of the Word of God and of Jewish pagan events of the sevalty years is traced to its origin
history. it is found to be a guess or conjecture, based by "author-
Tlie pagan historical records, especially of date as ities" (well-paid guessers) upon some scraps of uncertain
early as the seventy years' desolation, are extremely tradition. The ecclesiastically-received history of Baby-
obscure. contradictory, and unreliable, so much so as to lon of this period originated in a guess by an "author-
fall outsitlo the (lomain of history into the realm of ity". This appears in the article on "Bqlshazzar" in
surmise, gucsswork, hearsay, and conjecture. It is upon McClintock & Strong's "Biblical Cyclopedia," and shows
such a secular prehistoric basis that-the error rests that the uncertain and conflicting tales on which was based
the seventy pears began nineteen years earlier than originally the now discredited notion of seventy years
they actually did. 'dcaptivity" beginning in 625 B. C. First in the article
We will illustrate the unreliability of early pagan are given the difEering and contradictory accounts of
records concerning affairs prior to Cyrus, 536 B. C. Babylon's fall as recorded in the Bible, in Xenophon, r
Milman in his "History of the Jews" (Volume 1, page Greek writer (400 B. C.), in Berosus, a native "his-
460) speaks of "the intricate and inextricable labyrinth torian", and in Herodotus ;then 'Tt appears" so and so
of Assyrian history and chronology". from the Assyrian monuments; and fhally a conjecture
is made by a modern "scholar" (guesser), which is the
The uncertainty of those early pagan records cannot basis of the present utterances of ccauthorities" (highcst-
be shown better than by giving the facts about the snliiricd guessers) on the pagan history of the scvcrity-
sourccs of infornlation. The entire so-called pagan "his- year 1)crioil. There are, indeed, other quite different
tory" of anticluity is a mass of guesses, and furnishes no ancient records, but these are resolutely ruled out or
sound basis for so important a step as discrediting the ignored by the "authoritieu"-as liable to let the common
divinely-made prophecy ,and the divinely-recor6,ed ful- people into the fact that the matter is largely a guess.
fillment of the seventy years' desolation. Tt.: three The history of Babylon, as published by the "author-
ancient pagan "historians'y from whom data all: taken ities," includes a certain definite list of lcingg, but othea
1813
 mWATCH TOWER
"authorities" guess t h a t there may have been other kings From the article on "MedcsY7:
who failed t o get into the history or into the inscriptions "Cyaraxes must Aove been contemporary with the later
on the monuments. How the "authorities7' differ is il- years of that Assyrian nlonarch," etc.
"The struggle with these tribes nlay be the real event
lustrated in the article on "Belshazzar" in McClintock represented by 11erodolns," ~ t e .
& Strong's "Biblical Encyclopedia" : "Possibly his [EIerodotus'] mau contaln a still larger
"A totally difl6rent view is taken by Marcus Niebuhr, who amount of truth."
oonsiders [guesses'] Belshazzar to be another name for Evil- "It was undof~btedlyafter this," etc.
merodach, the son of Nebuchadnezzar. . . . He considers "The Bt~bylonians, who were perhaps commanded by
[guesses] that the capture of Bttbylon described in Daniel Nehucl~~tdi~ezx:~r on llle occasion."
was not by the Persians, but by the Medes, under Astysges "\\'ith regard to the nature of the government established
(1.e. Darius the Mede), and that between the reigns of Evil- by the Itides over the conquered nations, we possess but
merodach, or Belshazzar, and Neriglassar, me must insert Zilllr trustworthy evideicce."
a brief period during which Babylon was subject to the "llcrodot~~s i n oitc? gl:~cccornpnres sonccrokat vng?icll/ the
Medes." Wctlir~r~ wltl~the I't~rsi~lr~ systc~m."
Thus the "authorities" disagree in their conjectures "It is perhaps most probable that the Assyrian organiza-
on even the number and list of these prehistoric kings of tion was continued by the Medes."
Babylon. Not even t h e names of the Babylonian kings "This seems certainly to have been the case in Persia."
are certain, as appears in another extract from the same
.
"Tl~econqucst of the 31edes by . . the Persimis . . . is
anotllthr of tliosc i ? z d i s p ~ l n b l efacts [17'11nt is :I c1isprit:~ble
article : fact?] of renlote history, \vllich make the inquirer feel that
"Belshazzar (Hebrew and Chaldean Belslmtstsar) is the he aon~etinles:~ttainetlto solid ground."
name given in the Book of Daniel to the last king of the "According to so~newriters [Herodotus] there was a close
-- Chaldeans. ... Herodotus calls this king, and also his relationship between Cyrus and the last Median monarch."
"~lccordi~~g to Iloodotus, the Media11 rl:ltiolt w:~sdivlclcd
father, Labynetus, which is undoubtedly a corruption of
Nabonnedus, the name by which he was known to Berosus in into six tribes, cnllcd Busze, Paretaceni, Struclrates, -4ri-
Josephus' 'Contra Apion I. 20.' Yet in Josephus ('Antiquities' zanti, Budii, and Rl:lgi. I t is dozcbtfzrl, however, in tohat
sense these are to be consitlered as ethnic divisions."
X, 11:2) it is stated that Baltasar mas called Naboandel by
the Babylonians. Nabonadius in the Canon of Ptolemy, Nabo- "\Ye nlay perlbaps nssuwce from the order of Ilerodotus'
list," etc.
nedus in Eusebius, and Nabonnidochus in Eusebius are "Th? original religion of the Medes must tmdoubtedl~have
evidently other varieties of his name." keen that s i ~ i ~ p lcrc~ld
e which is placed before us in the
Ptolemy, ancient Greek C'historian", made up a list earlier portions of the Zendavesta."
called "Ptolemy's Canon7' like a chronological table, "The custo~r~s of tile hIedes are said to have nearly r e
which has been much used. This list, however, is un- senlbled tlluse of thci r ncighbors."
reliable in the dates of all events except those marked
From the article on "Persians":
by an eclipse or other astronomical phenomenon which
can be checked as to date by astronomical calculation. It "There Is reason to believe that the Persians were of the
same race as the Medes."
was not compiled for 600 years after 485 B. C., and is
highly inaccurate. F o r example, it says that Xerxes
"The religion . .. seems to have been of a very simple
character."
reigned twenty-one years. He actually reigned eleven "Neither do they appear to have had any priests."
years. It makes the date of Artwerxes' reign nine years "They were prohably brought into contact with a form of
too l a W 6 E i B. C., when it was 474 B. C.-the pagan religion very different ,from their own.''
"Herodotus ttllls us that the Persians were divided into
record thus supplying an inaccurate date from which ten tribes, of which three were noble, three agricultural,
to calculate the "seventy weeks7' of the Jews. Comparing and four nomadic."
Daniel 9 :24,25 and Nehemiah 2: 1, it is seen that the "In remote antiquity it would appear that the Persians
twentieth year of Artaxerxes was 464 B. C. His first year dwelt in the region east of the Caspian or possibly in a tract
still nenrclr India."
was 474 B. C. It is upon Ptolemy's Canon, and not upon
"The first E'argard of the Vendidad seents to describe
the Bible, that the prevalent chronology of the seventy their wanderings."
years is based. The "authorities" here attempt the h- "It is inlpossible to determine the period of these move
possible of transmuting guesses into certainties-and ments; but there can be no doubt that they were anterior to
any Bible student is unwise t o follow their leadership B. C. 880, a t which time the Assyrian kings seem to have
come in contact with Aryan tribes east of niount Zagros."
instead of that of the inspired Bible writers. "It is unce~-tainwhether they are to be identified with
the Eartsu or Partsu of the Assyrian monu~nents."
SUPPOSITIONS, THEORIES, CONJECTURES " I f so, \ve nlay s:ty t1111tfroin tllo ~nidtllcof the ninth
to the n~ltldleof the efgI1111century U. U. they occupied
The obscurity of pagan records and '%istories" of soutl~easternArmenia."
those ancient times prior t o 536 B. C., and their',un- "The lender of this last migration would seem to have
reliability as a basis for belief, appear also in the follow- been a certain Achzmenes."
ing brief excerpts from articles in "Smith's Bible Dic- ''l'eq~ little is lino1c.n of the history of Persia between this
tionary". The worde indicating uncertainty arc! itali- datc (13. C. 700) and the revolt and accession of Cyrus the
Great nearly a century and a half later."
cized, and show the entire matter to be a mass of guessee "Of the circumstnnces i~rlrlerwhich this revolt took place
and conjectura. we have no certain knowledge,"
 = WATCH TO WE,R
BOASTFUL, LYING INSCRIPTIONS Jehovali the God of the Eebrews mnv have occasiolleb
. Considerable reliance is placed by modern higher- his unexpected leniency to the chose; people. But the
mitic "authorities" on the inscriptions on pagan monu- contrast is sharp between the foregoing and the reveren-
ments and on Assyrian clay tablete to help them correct tial meekness of the following :
the inspircd Word of God 1 "The Lord is my shepherd; I sl~allnot want. 13e maketh
The inscriptions were made by men, and are no more me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth' me beside the
still waters. He restoreth my soul; he leadeth me in the
reliable than the men themselves. The degree of trust- paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yen, though
worthiness of even the modern oriental aristocrats and I walk through the valley of the sl~adowof death, I mill
monarchs is generally estimated a t a low figure. 'Who, fear no evll: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff
for instance, would take the unsupported word of an they comfort me. Tliou preparest a tnble before me in the
oriental sultan on anything today, or of an occidental presence of mine enemies; thou anointest my head with oil;
my cup runnet11 over. Surely goodness and mercy shall
diplomat? The ancient s&ns were even less trust- follow me all the days of my life; ntld I will dwell In the
worthy; their word could not be depended upon. A house of the Lord for ever."-David in the Twenty-l'l~ird
statement was a means to an end; a lie was as good as Psalm.
a truth, if it accomplished the desired purpose. Pagan This brings out in the sharpest
- -possible contrast the
monarchs were universally the tools of demons and, al- difference between pagan demon-worshipers and the ser-
most universally, children of their mental- and character- vant of Jehovah. Which is the more trustworthy-Cyrus
father the devil, the inventor and perpetuator of lies. or David? It is to the records of the former that the
The Assyrian inscriptions were made by demon-con- advocates of the new and improved cl~ronologyappeal.
trolled devil-worshipers, and are just as trustworthy aa We continue to rely upon the inspired Word of Jehovah.
- might be expected under the circumstances; for in un-
reliability they closely resemble the ancient pagan '%is- RECORDS FALSIFIED BY KINGS
torics" written by men of like character with the rulers. The pagan kings did not hesitate to falsify the monu-
Occasionally these "histories" tell the truth, but general- mental inscriptions. They left out whatever did not
ly spcaltind they relate a mass of fairy tales; and the suit them, and altered the record of facts when that
mol~umcntsare first cousins to the histories. pleased their arrogant boastfulness. Two kings reigned
hlost of the inscriptions considered of historical value together, but the inscriptions are written as though the
by the "autl~orities" (guessers) are the boastful state- reigns were successive. Some of the inscriptions make
ments of I)a,.;nn kings-worshipers of the heathen gods boasting claims as to the lengths of reigns--thonsanda
13~1,Nabu. hI:ud~ik,ctc. Cyrus was uscd by Jcliovali to of years to a reign.
help the Jcws, and may have been better than some, but An inscription exists in ~ h i c hin boastful language
the following extract from a monumental inscription Sennacherib describes his disastrous campaign against
eerves to contrast this best of the boastful pagan rulers Hezekiah (2 Kings 18 :19 ;Isaiah 36,37), but he says not
with David, the best of Hebrew kings: a word about the miraculous obliteration of his army by
"I am Cyrns, king of the world, the great king, the mighty the destroying angel. "Assyrian kings," says Dr. Brown,
king, king of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the "never record their failures; but Sennacherib's admission
four quarters of the world, son of Cambgses; the great king,
king of Anshall. grandson of Cyrus, the grmt king, king of that he did not take the city was held to be confirmation
Anshnn, great-grandson of Teispes, the great king, king of of 2 Kings 19 : 35-37, which describes a,great destruction
Anshan ; and everlasting seed of royalty, whose government of the Assyrian army and a signal deliverance of Scnl-
Be1 and Nabu love, whose reign in the goodness of their Salem".
hearts they desire. When I entered in peace into Babylon, The entire reigns of kings are omitted in the inscrip-
wit11 joy nnd rejoicing I took up my lordly dwelling in the
royal pnluce. hI:~rduk,the great lord [through the priests] tions at the option of succeeding monarchs. After the
moved the understanding heart of the people of Bitbylon to fall of Babylon in 538 B. C. the city was ruled by the
me, wliile I tl;\ily sought his worship. . . . To Ashur and "Darius the Mede" mentioned by Daniel. (Daniel 6 :9,
Susn, hgi~de, Eshmunak, Znmban, Meturnu, Deri, to the 11) Darius is considered to be Cyaraxes 11, a king of
border of Gutiom, the cities beyond the Tigris, whose sites
had bt,rrl foul:dctl of old-the gods who dwelt in them I the Medes, who reigned a t Babylon for two years until
returned to their palaces, nnd caused them to settle in tlieir, succeeded by the boastful Clyrus, but the inscriptions are
eternal shrines. . . . And the gods of Sumer and Akkad, silent regarding his brief reign. His reign was the ful-
whoin Nnbonnid, to the anger of the lord of the gods, had fillment of Daniel's vision of the Medo-Persian empire
brooglit into I!:11)ylon, nt t l ~ ecorninand of [the priests, who to the effcct that the BIcdcs would reign first and nftc.r
wnntcd n ri~or~o~)oly] Mnrclulr, the grcnt lord, I enused In
pence to dwell In their abodes, the dwellings in which their them the more powerfnl Persians. (Daniel 7 :6 ;8 : 3,4)
hearts delighted. May all the gods, whom I have returned ',Those that rely on the monuments for the facts will
to tlieir cities, pray before Marduk and Nabu for the pro- never know anything about ''Dariw the Mede" or his
longing of my days, may speak a kind word for me and two-year reign.
ray to AInrclnk, lord of the gods, 'May Cyrus the king,' " etc "Take the new Cyrus inscription," says Dr. Francis Brown,
-Barton's "hrchrrology and the Bible", pp. 385,386. himself an interpreter of the inscriptions. "I mention only
The superstitious Cyrus evident1J wished to propitiate one of the points of dlfaculty mhfch arise when these inscrip
dl the gods within eight, and his desire to please also tiona are compared with the statements in the Book of
 %WATCH TOWER
Danlel. They sem to lenve no place for 'Dnrius the Bledian.' ments: lralling tlic~rieagerly when lhcy say nt o~rc.c*wlrrtt
... Tlie Darius wlio from Daniel 5 :31 ; G: 1-28; e t c ,
would appear to have followed the last Babylonian king,
you want tlielli to say, but discrediting tlirui with all your
might when their utterances are troublesome to you. . . .
and preceded Cyrus, seems not to exist, according to the unwilling to wait. . . not courageous enough to be candid,"
inscriptions."-"Assyriology : I t s Use and Abuse," pp. 37,38. etc.-Brown's 6'Assyriology: I t s Use and Abuse".
The fact i s that Clyrus the braggart simply left Darius The foregoing are some of the varieties of unreliabili-
out of his inscriptions; but Dr. Brown takes the pre- ty in the presentation by "authorities" of the monu-
historic pagan record seriously and continues in a way mental records of antiquity. They could not be much
calculated to throw a little doubt upon the Bible: worse. The Bible student following them is in a maze.
"Now here is a historical problem of tlie 6rst order. It H e cannot tell what is true and what false in the
needs no amplification. Tlie issue is clear. I do not know
what adequate solution can be offered for the difficulty. inscriptions themselves, nor can he tell whether the
There is some solution, under which the Bible will suffer "authorities" are dealing honestly and consaientiously
no clatilage, I tun sure, but 20110 can teU u.9 what it is?" with him in their presentation of what in their opinion
A footllotc throws a little more doubt upon the Bible they guess a t or carelessly or willfully misrepresent.
by suggesting that the whole book of Daniel ia a legend:
"A current answer [by a clergyman, of course] affirms the DOUBTS, AND MORE DOUBTS
legendary character of the book of Daniel. But this is not An ancient king once built a great labyrinth of
enough. Tlie origin of the legend is still to be explained." intricate passages, and tradition has i t that when he
Extracts like these display the fact that "authorities", wished to get rid of someone he would have him turned
who have invested much in their training to read difficult loose in some remote corner of the labyrinth. So con-
inscriptions and whose salaries depend on gieat reputa- fnsing were the passages that practically everyone starved
tions, prefer to regard the monume~ltalinscriptions as to tleath without h d i n g the way out. Prehistoric pagan
-more rcliable than tlic Bil~le. Sucli are some of tlie clirol~ology and "history" are a mental labyrinth in
'"defenders of the faith" in the modern theological semin- which the believers of any other than present-truth
aries, and it is under their leadership that are unwitting- chronology find then~selves. Every step of study brings
ly enrolled those that doubt the Scripturally and his- new problems which take long study for solution, if
torically wcll-proved chronology of present truth. tht~ycan be solved at all, and the unfortuuate studc~lt
UNTAUSTWORTHINESS OF ARCHiEOLOGISTS finds himself "ever learning [something], and never able
Dr. Brown, however, is more cautious t h m some of to come to a knowledge of the truth9'.-2 Timothy 3: 7.
the more ardent Assyriologists. I n an address to young As Dr. Brown says :
.
\,qbyriolo~y
18 is trot a 1111'1.e 1<t~y10 111111)('li ~ I O O I ~ XI. t 011'1~s
u 111ntuild ~ ' ~ ~ t t y l i ~s(?rles
a t e d of fuels. I t tllro\\.s clear l i ~ i t t
warrls thecstu(leuts agaiust the wtisuse of a r c h ~ o l o g y . or1 sollie tllings, alld pai.tiul liglit on others, artd reveals dilrr
We quote snatches of his address : outli~cesof yet others. If we put oursel~esin that light, we
"Scierttific advance is through guesses, more o r less rash. niust be williitg to see all it shozoa us. Assyriology is ttot
.enthusiasm,
. . Assyriology has its guesses. . . . Great and infections
but a sad lack of cool judgment and scholarly
sitt11)ly an interpreter titat stands outside attd expluirls our
BiI)les to us. It makes its way into our Bibles, and even
patience. .. . Overliaste in its employment. . The As-.. wlrile it s~uootlisover some of the old difficulties, it s o ~ i l e
ayriologists themselres have been guilty of many sins of times unearths new ones no k s s troublenome. I t is the lm-
.
excessive haste. . . The Biblical scliolar has not only, to perative duty of those who study-most of all those who
his own u~rdoing,taken the hasty coltclusions of tlie special- teach, or expect to teach-the Rible, to rrcognize these new
isla, arid morlred them into his expositiorrs, but he has liiui- l~roblelnsin all their gravitu and far-rchchi~tgimport. . . .
self rlrnwii hasty conclusions from tlieru. . . . Tliere has IVe ouglrt to Iw looking forwrird to a time, and preparing
been in some quarters an unseently voracity; everything has for it, wlteri the average n~rmbershipof our churches shall
beer1 swallowed; tlie sililplest rules of critical inquiry have have a faith so full of living nerves and muscles that i t
beeri forgotten. There has been blind trt~stingto authority, will hold itself upriglit betreath even such searching inqztiries
witltout weighing it, 11rtd all nssuniptiori of fxct ugon the [doubts] ccs these. . . . \Vhosoever undertakes to make use
mere say-so of soltie presur1l:tbly lrortrst scllo1:tr. . . . There of Assyriology in behalf of tlie Old Testanlent cannot slrutl
is .a wide difference between expectiltg a discovery and fkear Ithe doubts thus created]."-"Assyriology : I t s Use and
.
making one. . . T l ~ eXssyriologistx, it iuust be adluitted, Alluse." no. 29.30.
.
have rather a slender bilsis for tlteir date. . . The blame-
- . > r c

~ h ideal
-,- -
i of~ a church is a congregation of university
worthy thing is tliat there ltas been ]to adequate care to
..
guard against ~nistnkes. . A coltstaltt arid enforced shift- graduates all learned and wise (1 Corinthians 1: 26-29),
.
ing of ground. . . Conclusions nlust not be jumped at. . . . trained in arch~ology and able to overcome the doul~ts
He ntust not treat the liyl)otl~esis:IS :in establislled fact, raised ~veeltlyby their pastor and. for salvation from
.
and build a dogmatic espowitiorl u1)on It. . . They 0ug11t unbclicf, tru"&il;g in the nlelltal p~owessof the infitlcl
to dettrutld tliat fact sharply t l i x t i ~ ~ ~ ~ t l sfro111
l ~ c ~guess;
tl
that dt4itiite and intelligible rt:asotIs J)c assigrted for opitiiolis. ,
woll in tlie pulpit before them. Bible students shor~ld
. .
. A colnplete list would e v e us a secure chronological , not begin studping matter based on pagan records, u-itll-
basis for Assyrian history. 111 fact, we 11:tve tto one, complete out seeing how far their course will lead them and being
list, but six or seven partial lists overln~pingeach other. willing to go all the distance into unbelief and to pay
.. . A respectable nutuber of cllronologists have assumed all the price--the crown of gloryfor the faithful.
. .
a Ilreak of forty-six years. . The vice of this method
But have
of handling the inscriptious lies here: that it involves a
playiug fast-and-loose with well-attested historical docu- service yet to render to their Master, worse than waste
 WATCH TOWER
their time on "science [knowledge] falsely so calledy' (1 consecrated child of God may cndravor to scarch out
Timothy 6 : 20), when God has provided a chronologiea2 things to come.-1 Peter 1: 11,12; John 1 6 : 13.
bridge, over the indecipherable pagan chronology of It is not necessary to show how if a change of 10 J pars
the prehistoric period in question, in the shape of proph- were made in the chronology the time from Jacc~hto
ecy and fnlfillmmt of "seventy years' desolationJy? It Jesus would become shortcncd from 1845 to 182G years,
is another divinely-furnished bridge lilre that over the and the entire system of dates based on the "Jowish
period of the Judges. (Acts 13 : 19-21) It would be a parallels" would collapse; how the jubilee system dates
foolish waste of time to attempt to work out the detailed would fall out of placc from its pr~sentsymtnctry ; how
chronology of the Judges; and it is equally wasteful to the 2520-year parallels would disappear; how the cwtire
cast aside the divinely-given bridge over the seventy-year system of dates would be scattered; how there conld he
period of desolation and to try to establish connected, no foundation for faith in the resulting chronological
detailed facts from pagan sources; for that, in fact, is jumble; and how there conld bc no sound reason for
what is implied by reliance upon the currently accepted believing in the prescncc of thc Lord, thc placc and
notioiis al)oat the clironology of Babylonia copied in all work of Pastor Itussell, the end of the age, the harvest
encyclopedias and reference works from the same unre- work, or in a n j of the Ijteratnre published by the So-
liable source. ciety. Many years ago all these matters mere deeply
FURTHER PROOF OF PRESENT-TRUTH CHRONOLOGY considered by Paistor Russell, and he declared, in an
There is a well known law of mathematics called '"the article which u7e will soon republish, that a change of
law of probabilities". Applications of this law are fre- one year would destroy the entire system of chronology.
quent in everyday life in settling matters of doubt. I n a
-family of chiltlrm, if a certain kind of mischief is
comm i tt:d, the probabilities- indeed, the certainty- We
PRESENT-TRUTH CIIRONO1.OGY IS CORRECT
have s110\~11that t l ~ cl)rc.sn?t-trnth chronology ia
are that it was done by a certain one, and that the correct and others are incorrect hccansc :
others assuredly did not do it. If some peculiar damage (1) It is I~asedsqi~nrc~ly on inspired prophecy.
is clone by night to a single house, then by the law of (2) The f~~lfillment is rt3cordetl in thc Bible and in
probabilities it niay have been a pure accident; if done the history of God's choscn pcople, thc Jews.
to t~vohouses in the same manner it probably was not ( 3 ) The seventy ycars arc. all years of desolation.
accidental but by design of some person; but if done to (4) There was no captivity and no vassalage of Judah
three or more houses in the same manner it passes out of in 625 B. C. from which to count thc seventy years
the possibility of accident into the certainty of design. captivity or servitutlc.
The chronology of present truth might be a mere (5) l'agan "history" on the subjcct is unreliable.
happening if it were not for the repetitions in the two ( G ) The opinions of "authoritics" on this pagan
great cycles of 1845 and 2520 years, which take it out '%istory" are guesses ant1 con jectnrrs.
of the realm of chance and into that of certainty. If (7) The monumental inscriptions are untrustworthy
there were only one or two carresponding dates in these because of the untruthf~~lness and uiireliability of the
cycles, they might possibly be mere coincidences, but demon-worshiping and demon-controlled pagan mon-
where the agreements of dates and events come by the archs.
dozens, they cannot possibly be by chance, but must (8) l'he inscriptions omit some important facts and
be by the design or plan of the only personal Being falsify others.
capable of such a plan---Jehovah himself; and the chro- ( 9 ) The archceologists are not conscientiom or honest
nology itself must be right. in presenting the inscriptions.
I n the passages of the Great Pyramid of Gizeh the (10) Reliance upon pagan history or archxology Icada
agreement of one or two measurements with the present- through worse doubts and ever more of them, into in-
truth chronology might be accidental, but the corres- fidelity.
pondency of dozens of measurements proves that the (11) Present-truth chronology is correct beyond the
same God designed both pyramid and plan-and at the possibility of a doubt.
same time proves the correctness of the chronology. Present-truth chronology is based upon divine proph-
The agreement of the chronology with certain meas- ecy and its Biblical fulfillment, that the seventy yeara
arements of the Tabernacle and the Temple of Ezelriel were years of desolation, not part desolation and part
further stamps the chronology as true. captivity. The chro~iologystauds arm as a rock, bascd
It 'is on the basis of such and so many corresponden- upon the Word of God.
cies-in accordance with the soundest laws known to It is a matter of faith in Jeho~rahand in his inspired
sciencethat we affinn that, Scripturally, scientifically, Word. (2 Timothy 3 : 16) Those that lack faith in God's
and historically, pres~nt-truthchronology is correct be- Word and cast about for needless help from admittedly
yond a doubt.- I t s reliability has been abundantly con- lying pagan records, will doubtless receive according
firmed by the dates and events of 1874,1914, and 1918. to their lack of faith. Those that stick closely to the
Present-truth chronology ia a secure basis on which the Word will receive according to their faith.
 THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL

IDENTITY OF BELSHAZZAR -GREATNESS OF THE CITY OF BABYLON -VANITY AND SACRILEGE - SEEVICE WITHOUT STIPULATIOX A
A BEJIAI(1C-iDLE CORROBOE~~TION.
"God will bring everg worlc into j u d ~ m e n t ,with every Widden tl~iqtg,w7~etRerit be good, o r rohet7ier it be evil."-Ecclegb
astes 12: 14.

ROM time to time t h e higher critics, who according to

F their ow11 esti~ti:~tc.sof t l ~ e ~ u s c l v easr e wiser tllarl t h e
Scriptines, ~i~tvxt I\ ill1 n ~'c'ln~ltc?
us h e causes s o ~ i ~u cl ~ l ~ : ~ ~i. ~
f ~ I he
t lrnntl of t l ~ cT.ord,
r rrrtt* ~ ~ ~ s i sbet\vtwtr
t t . ~ ~ c ythe Hil~le
h o l t l i ~ ~11i;ll
g rcycl, b:u~qnc.ts, ctc., conviticcd of t h e security,
thcb it~~pregtr:~I~ility
11tiiItli11g11 trt~n(~11
of tlrt~ircity, Cyrus :tt~tlhis :lrlny %vt.re
:tl)o\tb t I 1 t 1 vily i111o N I I I ~ ~ I Ii t r ~ I I I I * li1110
tl~t:~ v a t c r sof the I C I I ~ P I I I ~ritchr
; I ~ ~\vt1~.e1
~ S L I I ~ I I ~ Y I :kirtI
. ~II~~II,
record and t h e records of secular l~istoriansto be cleared i n the d:~rkness of thc rliplrt, the sol0ic.r~ wrrc n ~ : i r c l ~ r d
UP. through t h e bed of the rivt.1 rliltl qilined an elllfiuncc to tlle
IDENTITY OF BELSHAZZAR city while i t s unsuspecti~rgtlcf'c~lltlerswere b:urqltcting.
Suc.11 a n itelkt ir:~s:lrisc!~ rcsl)c.c.ti~~::lii~rg.liclsll:~zznr,the
cl~ieffigure in tllc cvcl~rlsof our It ssor~. E'or )'c.:trs the Irigl~cr VANITY AND SACl<ILEGE
critics claimed t h a t tlrere was no sucli n~ari; t h a t the nlonu- On this sunie night the ki~rggille :I b:i~~quet in 111s chief
ments showed t l ~ u t h e last king of Babylon was Nabonidus, palace to a tlrousand of llis nobles ill111 lords :ind ladies of
\vhon~the Bible does not ~ilention; arid t h a t this wvas evidence t h e e ~ n p i r eresitli~~::in t h e city. Tile enrnly n a s little thougl~t
t h a t Daniel was niistcikt.~~.Now they have stoppcatl s:lying of. On the contrtlry, Ht~lsl~:tzznrber~stctl of the in~pregru-
anything :111out tlris itc.111 bt.cause a n i ~ ~ s r r i l ) t i oIIILS ~ l been bility of the fortrtws. n11t1 dcc.l:trrd t h a t the gods of t h e
brougl~tto light nllic.11 sl~o\\*st h a t Icing Xi11)oniilos did huve I$ilbyloniar~swere supcrior to ;ill others. I3e pointed t o
a son by the ~ ~ i l iof l ~ Uelshazzar
e ; and while this p~irticulnr tlre sl~bjectnations s u r t ~ o u ~ t d i a~st gevitlctrces of this, and in
inscription does not specifically stute t h a t B e l s l ~ u x ~ :w ~ ar s derision crilled f o r tllr 11oly vt'ssels tililt Irl~elbcen brought
kill:: of the city ilnd tlre provhce of Babylon, mrdrr Iris by Iris grr~~ttlfrttl~cr N c ~ l ~ n c . l ~ i ~ t l ifro111
~ c ~ z111t.
z ~ ~. Ir ~ t v i s ITCIII~)IC,
~
l'allier Nabonidns, who wus king over the whole Babyloulun t11:~t11e :lnd his lords n ~ i g h tdrink fro111 tlttse to d o honor
rea1111,yet the inference is fully justified, because the inscrip- to the gods of Babylon.
tion a t hand cloes show t h a t Belshazzar was a man of great I t w a s i n t l ~ emidst of this blaspl~eniyand profanation of
wealtl~,:L money-leuder and landlord on a large scale, a t h e holy vessels of Jehovah's Temple t h a t a halid appeartd
wllolrst~lei1t':~ler in wool. These activities a r e such as nilgltt :~nclwrote: in letters of fire u11o11the wnll of tlie palace the
be c s l ~ t ~ c t ein
d cori~rc~ction with :I ruler of the period, or, words, Alc8re, Mene, I'el~cl, Upharsin. Tlle king, his counsel-
it~dtwl,of any period where big business was allied with 1013, iris 11011lt\s,the r i ~ i s t o c r a qof the world, were astounded
big l~olitics. and trun~lwtl. Tlic appr~ritionconvinced them a t once t h a t
THE CITY OF BABYLON solne dire c ; ~ l t ~ l l ~ i nt y~ l ) c ~ ~ d eIdt . was recognized a s being
1:11l~ylo11, a t tlrix titile, Iron1 all dt$srriptIor~smust Irnve ~ ~ ~ n r i'rlre. wise men, the astrologers, etc.,
of s ~ ~ p c ~ r l r uorigin. -
been by l'nr the 11rost w o ~ ~ t l e r f u city
l of tlre world up to t h a t \vclrr xt.lrl for to give rill explanation and interpretation.
time, and in sorrle particulr~rsh a s htid no rival since. I t T11c.y crlr~lc,but fuiletl.
- was a very \ve:iltliy, luxurious city, not only enrlched by the Tlre king's n ~ o t l ~ren~t.~ubered
er Daniel and his relationship
plu~iderof tllc pnlti~vsfind telnples of t h e nations conqtlered wit11 Nel)uclrctdt~t~zz:lr. S l ~ cIrrld probnblg hectrrl of the won-
round about, but further enrlcl~edby the trlbutes paid by derful intc~rprtbtittlonof Kc.l~uc11udnczzur'svis1011 by Daniel
those nations year by year and by its mercantile truMc with when all otllers h:td fi~iled. The Prophet was evidently well
all t h e nations of t h e world. known, a n d not far otf, probably still engaged in some de-
It w a s not only the largest city in the world but had t h e partment of tlie governn~entservice and near t h e palace.
strongest fortress. T h e great plain on which it lay, a H e soon :tppeared, and his courage on this occasion is worthy
paradise of fertility and cultivation, was intersected by of remark. H e had a most painful dnty to perform toward
countless canals, both snlall and great, serving alike f o r his superiors; f o r t h e Iring, as a n autocrat, h a d t h e power
irrigation and navigation. Babylon, built on this fertile of Daniel's life at his tongue's end.
plain, was said t o be fourteen miles from north t o south The king had offered both wealth and honor to t h e wise
and fourteen miles fronr east to west, and t h e walls sur- man able to give t h e meaning of the remarkable writing,
rounding i t 350 feet high. I t had one hundred gates. The but t h e Lord's prophet showed t h a t he was not mercenarJr
river Euphrates flowed tltrougli it, and was banked high utrd t h a t 11is Interpretation was not i r ~ l l ~ ~ e n cby e dany such
on each side ttre stream with solid massive walls :ind considerations. His anstver was: "I.et thy gifts be to thy-
intersected with water gates made of bronze. The Iris- self and give thy rewards to anotller; nevertheless I will
torinn says: "Babylon ~ v a st h e strongest fortress in t h e read the writing unto tlie k i ~ and g make known to him t h e
world. Even a suunll forct? of brave nietl could 11ilve held inteipreta tiou."
i t for years." I t would be the nzltural el'fect of l~avlrlgsuch
r i c l ~ e sand strength under his control to make Ring - Bel- SERVICE WITflOUT STIPULATION
shazzur proud and self-confident. We may stop here long enough to learn a valuable lesson,
At the time of our lesson t h e army of t h e Medes and to the effect t h a t all who \t*ould be t h e mouthpieces of the
Persians l111der the comtnnnd of Ring Cyrus w a s heslcging Lord, and speak forth his Word, shonltl, llke I)t~nicl, do so
I3:~bylorr. 'J1Irls wns thc Cyrus who the Lord t l ~ r o n n l one ~ w i l l ~ o u tzctll~~~lt~tlon
of ron~l)c~rsntIor~.
Only fro111 t l ~ l sstt~rrd-
of his prophets declared sliould set free 111s people, tibe po111tcbitrr trrry 1101)~to be entirely free and untt.atnn~cled In
Hebrews. T o all human appearance his besieging of the 'speal;irlg words of truth and soberness which may be very
city of Babylon would be a hopeless task, a failul-tx, so distasteful t o those who inquire the n~itldof t h e Lord. H a d
strong-was t h a t fortress. Yet t h e Lord had timed the fall Daniel thanked the king f o r t h e promised gifts, s n d thus
of Nebuchadnezzar's empire, and no doubt providtlnti:tlly acceptcd tlrelii as a reward f o r his service, Ire mould have
guided to the accomplishment of tlie matter a t t h e time felt obligated to the king t o slich a n extent t h a t it might
Intended. \Tllile Belsliazzar and t h e people of Babylon vere have wtirped his judgment, o r have weakened his expression
189
 -WATCH TOWER
of t h e Lord's message. And the king in turn wonld hnre felt entitlctl "A Ilen~nrknhleConflnnation" contained in our issue
that, having paid for the information, it should be :I srrtooth, of Jat:u;~ry 1, 1'319. \Ve quote from tllcb It : I T :
favorable message. And so it is with sorrle of the 1,ord's "Mene, Blene, Tekel, Upharsin, are C11:~ldaicterms tnken
servants irt niystic Babylon. They have the opportunity from the Babylonian table of weights. aiid being trnnsl:tted
presented to speak the Lord's Word; yet many of them a r e from the ancient cuneiform in rnllic-h they were written,
handicnppctl 11y rensort of having received honors artd robes, would rcad : A rnirin, a mlnn, n sl~olrcl,n half n~irtn. T h e
and a r e llrorc o r less inclined to hide ancl cover the message table of welghts is a s follows:
now due to I3abylon in this i t s Laodicean epoch. They a r e 20 gerah - 1shekel
bound bx the chain of gold around their necks.-Revelation 60 shekels - 1mina
8 :1422. A min:t therefore equals 1000 gerahs. IIence 'a minn, a niina,
The aged Propllet displnyed gentleness a s well a s fear- a shrkel ~rndn half 1111nn' o r two nr~tlrt half mirtns plus o
lessness in the delivery of his message. It was stated a s shekel, recluced to gerahs, yields tlttB highly significant
kindly a s the truth would permit, but the truth was not number 2520.
withheld by reason of fear. H e recounted to the king his "Thus, when Daniel pointed to this handwriting on the
father's es:lltation to power, and ascribed i t not to the god wall and said unto the gentile monarch : 'God hath n u m l ) t ~ e d
of Babyloll, but to the God of Israel. H e reminded hirn of thy ki~lgclornnnd finidled it; thou a r t \\-cigl:hcd in the b:tl:~nce
how pride Ir:~d been his father's downfall, resulting in his arid a r t found wanting; thy kingdom is divided and given
degradation to bestial conditions for seven times (seven to the BIedes and Persians,' we h o w h e alluded not alone
years in this instance but apparently calling attention to the to the literal kingdom of Babylon, nor to the literal BIedo-
seven times, o r 2520 gears, of gentile dominion). H e re- Persian cxnpire, which succeeded it. Rather, he wns pro-
minded B13rlsl1azzarof how in the end his father, Nebuchad- phetically dclcl:lring, 'After 2520 years of supremncy the
nezzar,hacl acknowledged the God of heaven a s the real ruler gentile lease of power will esyire, and the rulership of earth
amongst men, and then he charged home to the king that will then be divided and brolren u p and given to a two-
instead of profiting by this experience, of which he well fold empire1-the hettvenly and tlte earthly phase of the
h e w , he had lifted up his heart in pride, had ignored the h1essinnic kingdom. Gentile supremncy began, a s we all know,
only true God, ztnd 1111(1 even hrougllt wlint he knew were with the ovcrtlirom of Ismel's Inst king, in GO% R. C. Just
the sacred vessels of .Teliovnh's service, to profane thern in 2B20 ycnru Inter, o r in 1914 A. D., tlte process of diviililcg
the worship and glorification of idols-"gods of silver, gold, began, in exact accordance with 'the handwriting on the
brass, iron, mood and stone, which see not nor hear nor wall.'
know." He point~clout to the king that h e had thus dis- "It i s further observed t h a t this number 2520 is distinctive
honored and defied "the God in aliose hand [power] thy in thnt i t is the least common multiple of all the digits in
breath is l the God of all life-Acts 17:28.291, and whose our system of numbc1rs; that is, i t is the least possible
a r e all thy ways [who has full power to control your number into which 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 may each and all
course]." This true God he had not glorified, but dishonored. be conhined. Thus in a special sense i t is a n all-comprehensive
By thus kindly but plainly showir~gthe king the truth, number. No other number could be more appropriate for
the Proplrctt prepnrcrl the way for the exposition of the sparrning the wlrole pclriocl of gcntile Icnse of power; ntrtl i t
fateful words-"hfene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin." Is, a t the ffltxne lilrie, cxrlctly scz7eit s y ~ ~ t l ~ oycttrs
l l c 111 clr~rti-
tion. Who indeed could doubt but that our chronology is
A REMARKABLE CORROBORATION correct! And do not present world erents corroborate i t in
Students of the Hebrew declare t l ~ n ttheir records and every sense? We now behold t h e diriding of earth's king-
doms. I t began exactly on time. T h e nic~sslaniclringtlo~nis
traditions show that what was writttw (in Ar:lmnic clinr- the next thing in order after t h e present dividing work i s
acters) was froni the top down and from right to left
(Hebrew custom), and that only the consonants were given, complete. Let u s be patient a little while longer, and soon
we shall see the salvation of the Lord."
a s is also ~ k b r e wcustom. The poet Heine has pictured t h e scenes of the lesson as
The king was helpless to interpret this ; but Daniel, under- follows :
standing Aramaic, recognized a t once the components of the "In the monarch's cheeks a wila fire glowed,
-
words Mina - Mina Shekel - Half-mina, a reference to He- And wine awoke his daring mood.
brew coins, which we will explain shortly. T o Daniel these \\'it11 daring hand, in his frenzy grim,
consonants also stood for the words "Mene," signifying "num- The king seized a beaker and filled to the brim,
bered," "Tekel" meaning "weighed," and "Peris" meaning Ancl drained to the dregs the sacred cup,
"divided." Ancl foaming h e crled a s he drank i t up,
Daniel was expecting the overthrow of the Babylon empire 'Jeltovah, eternal scorn I own
by the Medes and Persians; for 75 years before h e had T o thee. I a m monarch of Babylon.'
interpreted Nebuchadnezzar's dream a s recorded in the * * '
second chapter. That was in the twelfth year of Nebuchad- "Tlle yelling laughter was hushed, and all
nezzar, 613 B. C. and this was in 638 B. C. two years before \Vas still a s death in the roynl hall.
the first year of Cyrus. And see! And see! on the white mall high
Without doubt also Daniel was divinely guided t o under- The form of a h:tnd went slowly by,
stand these characters and without doubt the Lord h a s just And wrote, and wrote, on t h e broad mall white,
now brought to light their'numerical values. See t h e letter Letters of fire, and vanished in night." 1

WE O W N THY PRESENCE
Now, with glory undefiled, Help us hold thy loving hand
Reigns a s King thnt lowly child; Till me ~'encltthnt golrlen strand;
Takes his own, his righteous power, Let u s love thee more nntl more.
I n the world's most tronblecl hour, And thy gr:~cious name atlore,
.,. -Lord, we own thy presence sweet, Till thy blessed face we see
shining o'er earth's mercy seat l Throughout all eternity 1
 fi WATCH TOWER
makes the dlsglc~nwlre$111 the broader t o Includt. l ~ i sc~orl~~scl-collie under tlie power of natural wlld beasts, and making -
lors. I l e t ~ p p r w i u t c ~
1):111irl
l a s a nltln of God rule1 11sall uble this a test of hls fldellty to God and to prll~c~iplrs of right-
ec'rvul~tof tlle n r ~ l ~ i r und r , set tlbout a t ollce to do every- eousness, so the Lord's lrrovlde~~ce son~c.tilnrs perli~itv his
f11i11gi l l his power to annul his own decree. "He labored until faitllfol ones to be exposed to t h e \ - I ~ I I O I ~ Iand nlalice ma
tlle going down of t h e sun to deliver him" ; but he found no h a t e :uld ~nisrepresentation and slitzlder of human tongues,
eX('IlSf?. and of open persenltioll 11s ill 1!)1X, f i ~ r111ortlv i c ' i o ~:~I I I ~
Orcti~lurily,I V I I ~ I I the kings d e s l r ~ t lto III* rc~11~11xc.cl from f t ~ rInor(. trrril~lt-~ ~ v c *wily ~ ' ) ~1111111 11118 1\~11cl 1 ~ ~ 1 1 01' ~ 1 sll)e
some decree, they culled upon their \vlsc~Incstl rune1 11111giciuu8, j1111gIc~. \v11ieI1can II;II*III 1)11tfor 11 I I I U I I I I ~Nc~vc~rtI~e~le~s~,
II~. :I#
who usually were skillful in suggesti~lg:I way out of the tllr I ~ r dwas able to clc~livc~r l , is 1101 Irss :ll)le to
l b s ~ ~ i r111.
dilenlma ; but in this case i t mould tIppcB:1rt l l i ~ tthere was a serld his :1nge1 (his providt~l~cc s ) to sllut tllc. I : : I I I I ~of ~ ItSl ~ o s e
col~lbinationof all t h e wise men and rulers of 1::1l1ylo11:tgnillst who \voold do injtlry to his ~)c*ol~lc'.
1)arrlel. They now Ilud l ~ i ~inn their powclr, r~l~cl ~\~oulel SII#-
gwt nothing ~ I It l ~ eway of release. 011 1 1 1 ~c-olltr:~ry,tllthy PUNISHMENT OF THE CONSI'IItA'l'OItS ,
held u p before t h e king t h a t h e mas bound by his dt!~.rt.etlud T h e Scri1)tur:ll rcr.orel i s t h a t oftc~rI):u~ic.l's tlclivc~~.;~l~c~e
that he' could 1 1 ~ tdo otherwise than esecute i t btv.ause n Ring Darius c.:utscd all the c o ~ ~ s p i r : ~ t otor s11c. c-itst into the
failure to clo so would rnenn a ilisllonor to tilt* ~ m p l r ein den of liolls, nlltl tIt:~t ~ I I I I S tlley I \ I ~ ~ I1111 * cIc~s11~11yt~el. Tile
having broken i t s laws and would I ~ I I I ~ : I I I ~11is I ~ P tllrorre. p u n i s l ~ ~ l ~wl~ic.l~
c ~ ~ r tcarullc>Illlon tl~c.sc*I I I I \ I I \\';IS \\ lli~ttl~e'Sc'rf1-1-
Accordingly Daniel was cast to the liolls, but not before t u r r s d r s i g l ~ a t e:I judgmel~t,anti ~ v IrI : I ~ I \ tllcXScril1111r:11:IS-
King Darius had expressed his hope and wish t h a t in some surnrrce t h a t when t h e judgments of t l r ~I,o~-d:trtx :rl)ro:~din
way Tlaniel's God would be able to deliver him. the eartll ( vrllen t l l ~ ya r e gener:~I ) tllr ill h ; ~ b i t ; t ~ ~ oft sthe
T h e cor~sf)ir:~tors were bent upon having matters tlloroug11- world will l e : ~ nrigltteousness. ~ IVllr~rtllt. liil~zelo~n s1;:rll llnre
ly ucco~nltlisltt~el, :und htwce the stone (wl~ic.l~ tr~vcrcdtllc. tlrt~ bc.c?~~ ~ s t : ~ l ~ l i~sIII ~I ~ Itllv
~~ e I rc~igl~ of r i ; . l ~ l c ~ o ~ ~ <s~l l ~ ; l lcl ~ 11:1\~e
s<
nnd \v:ls probal~lyf:lstc&~~rcl to i t s p1:tct. ~ v i t l:ln ~ jro11 IJ:IP) t)eyuli t.vc~y tl+;tl~s*:l.c~ssioll sllall rc*c.t~ivc~ ;I ju-1 rcbc.olllpc.nse
was cloubly sealed with wax, to prove tll:~t it \\.:IS not of rc,\v:trd, evrry s i l l will be punislle.11 ;IIIII c h \ e 5 ~ . ) c~l~cle~itvor
tampered with---one ~t>irl v\'ils the kings, the otllrr t l ~ ; of ~ t the for ~.izllttwusnesswill 11thhlrssc~d:11111 ~.e\v:~rcl( $1. 11o\v sl~et~cli-
lorils of the en~nirc., wlto were atnongst the conspil.;ttol.s, so ly 1 1 ~ 1\vorlil ~ will 1rt1r11r i g I ~ t t ~ o ~ ~ ? ~ I~I Ic: ~ I ~srt*t~cliI)
s i 1 ~ .
=-t11:1t tllexrc*111igl11 110 S I I ~ ) ~ I Y ~ ~ :I ~I ~I tI cI ~~ ~ ~ : or t t i oIl1e1
~ ~ I-011- I I r s ~ t t ~ : ~ I ,I I I ~ ~ I I 1I I 1 . ! y I o ~ of i
(liliol~sor clc*Iivcb~.y of 1):111ic~l cl11r111g111cl r ~ i g l ~ tl.f tI~c>11011s ~ ~ l . o p \ve)llIll ll~ j)rltf<~rrlglllcoll<lll~sslo sill :1111l 1 l l ~ l l ~ I l t>e*t ~t~,
w r e not very hungry ;it tllc3 111on1c~11t 1);lrlit'l mas first cast ul~dcxrprc.sn~tcolltlitio~~s, I I I I I I I *tl~t.
~ clolninion of tI1c. princBe
iir, i t nr:ls rcu.konr(l tllilt tlrf~yn-ouitl c.t~rt:ritrly bt~c.o~~lr so of this worlcl, tlre rigl~tt>ous a r e the one% mlto nsn:tlly ssrlRc>r
before mornirlg. and tllc. rvil tlot~rs vrry ~ n ~ t ~ r : t lClSyI ~ : I ~ I - I I I ~ I I ~ ~ C n tlotll)t
preb\: ~ i l src-hl~e*c~ti~~g (;c)cl IIIIII ; L I I ~I ~ I I ~ ~ ~ I ~ of I I .justire.
I I ~ I I ~ '~'III-
THE MOUTHS OF THE LIONS SliUT t t s s t l l ~ ~ l ) l iis.
o ~tlli~t
~ it' O I I ~I-:III ehsc-;~l)cl 1I1o l c ~ ~ ~ l ~ l ~ l e ~of: ~ l i t i c . ~
Evidently the nlorr tlle king tlrougt~t ~.t.sl~rc.tit~;. l);t11i1~1 ti;<. 1;1\v:11111 1111~clnte~l~rs'or tllc' 1:1\v's o(;i(.e*rsi t 1 tllt~p~.c*srllt
and his God the more his faith in t h a t clirectiol~illcreased. life he is s ; ~ l e: I I I ~ !~et>tlnot f e a r cli\il~clil~terferc~nce.IVe
IIe s p m t a slrq,less night, and arose early in the morning may ~ r ~ : ~ t l isc1r l y tllc~r~t h a t w11e11 tl~cb ?tlillt~r~nial ago sl1:111
rlltd wcwt to 1heb clrn of lions ant1 crlcvl in II volt-1% fttll of 11ave>I)IY~II~ I I I I ) I I ~ ! I I * I ~ I in, ~ I ~ a1111\ V ~ I I > I I j11s1 j1cv1:111y~ v i l lfoIlo\v
sylnputlry rultl sor~.ow: "0 1)1111lel,svrvtlnt of tlte llvilrg c y ~ c l1rr111s~rc~sslo11 ~ nl~rl rc'\vnrtl follow c.uc~~.p goo11 tlt.c.tl, n
Cod, i s illy C:otl mholn thou servest continually able t o worltl-\\iclc. l ~ r f o r ~ ~ ~ r lor t i ocoll\rerslon
n to I ' ~ ~ ~ I ~ ( ~ O \\?Ill IISI~I~SS
cl(.liver thee from the lions?" follow fortl~mitllin every land, in every tol~gur. 111 t l ~ i ~ t
The erelnl)lrl ry conduct of n u l ~ i c ~h;ttl l 11:lcl Its cbft'c~tIrpon glorious tirne the rigl~teoussh:ill flol~risll:11111 the rvil t l o ~ r s
tile Itlng, :IS t ~ a ~ ~ r t ~ s11y st~ t l ~ v o r t l , " ' c ~ o i ~ t i ~ ~ ~ i f111.
1111. ~ ~ . " s l l ~ t l l Ir:tvP the stril~es,nnrl crc.~~tr!i~ll>
i I I 11ntl i T 1111.) c-ol~lil~ut' to
c~o~lfidc~ t11:1t
~ ~ c(iotl
~ c ~ was wit11 1):111lrl,111111 111:11 l l ~ c ~ ( : o\17110111 ~I c.vll t l o c ~ ss l l r ~ l l he. r u t OW 111 1111, ~ ( ~ I ~ O I I 01~:1111.
It18 II
I):tlric*l so sinc.csrc.ly ~vorsl~f[~c~cl :rr~clso irrtelliger~tlytrus:c~cl. '1'111* ir~tcv~sr 1~:tirc~tl of 111~ndvt~~vrrl.y fol- ; I I I > r e ~ ) ~ ~ ~ c ~ . ; c ~ ~ ~ t : ~ i i
must be more po\vc.rful than all otlrer gods. of .Jt.l~ov:tlt is \v14I 11. l ~ r t ~ s r n t eill d tllc, ~ ~ 1 ~ 0 1 . : elo~tl~llt~xs
. 111-
The heart 01 1)ilrius mas glad a s he heclrcl Daniel's voice spired l ~ ySatan, to clc'stroy the prol111c.t 1 ):t~~ie'l. .It tile
saluting him, assul.ing him of his s:lfcty; and he. a t once pwstll~ttime the etSo~.tsof tile evil ollcl ;II.I. tli;~tv~tc~tl, 1111.0 .:!I
caused him t o be. clc~livt~red from the III~II. D:~niel rsy)rc~ssetl tllc. sec.tl of the selpc~r~l, t o ~ v : ~ rtile d \ ~ ~ . ; l l i ~ ~ ~:IIIII t I i ~u
f llir~~:~te~
one reason for t h e 1 ~ 1 ~ 1tle1iverunc.t~.
's ill tllv \vorcls, "131~fore cle~struc.tiol~ of the sc~cbc\ of tllc. I ~ ~ I I I : I I I . 'l1I1~11(:()el, \v11o111\\'ex
11in1 innocency w a s found in n l e n s : ~ l s oht~foretl~t,c., 0 servea, i s :~l)lrto dr1ivc.r u s fro111 :111 sl~rtrc~s of tllc clevil, is
king, ltave I done no Itart." I r e note tht. fi1c.t tlrttt 11:lughti- m:u~ifrst l'rolu the rllir;tc,~~lo~~s tlrlirer:tnc>e of D n l ~ i r l tile
ncss and br:ivtldo a r c ~ ~ ~ l l o1:ickiltg lly $11 tl~c. I'ropl~et's nu- s r r v : ~ l ~of t .Ie~l~ov:~l~, fro111 \vl~:it, 11ur11r111lyspc.:tlri~~a.~v:ls
I~ounccmmtof t h e great f;!vor of God 111:111ife~stcrl OII Ills c.c.rti1111tl1~;1111. Itut 1111. I'lol1l114's \vork \v:ls not fi~~i<l~c-tl,
behalf. al~cl Ilt., like. rtll trllc> sc~rviu~ts of Jellovuh, \vns ilnlllortal
As God's providence was over Daniel, permitting him t o until his work was done.

END OF THE SEVENTY YEARS DESOLATION

Israc'l ., 01
W lllCN (hcl I1:lcl sc~rvcbtl
of e d o ~ ~ 1 1 ~ I chis
:III~
tllrc~elsc+ol~r
Ilis j~llrposcof c.ll:~stisil~g
~ t i ~tygic*:~l
~g p r o ~ I ~ r e y - \ v l ~ rthe
:111(1 11'11 yfWarsof ( l e ~ ~ o l t ~of
. ill \vllic.h tilt) 1t111d11:ttl eh~~joyt-11
tl~
Ilrr s : ~ i ~ l ~ : t t h:ltl
tlie
~~
~ t I:lnd,
l ~ s , esl~irclcl,
like> c,vc.ry otl1c.r fe'nlurch of Goel's 1)1:111,tllcb tleblivc~rrll~cc
Isr;lc>l from I:;~l)yIol~\Y:IS j)ronrl~tlyor1 tilllt>.
'l'l~is rtbt111.11W:IS ill e\':le'l fllltillllle~llt01'
a t tllc 111orttllof .Ic~lr~r~ri:rll, tire. ~)r'ol)l~c't.
I.0l'd'~ \Vord
I\ lto si)tu.ilic...!I) foltl,
tllr rexiurn of tlre ca:~]~tivt*s \\.;IS [Irlfk. Tlle grclclt clock of tile ]lot o l ~ l yof tllr ( l e ~ s l r u c ~ l iof the. tally, 1)ut rllso llli~t I t
o~~
ages poil~tc~d to tile tilne for the return of the exiles, and, would be seventy Seal's before the retilr11 of its i l ~ l ~ r ~ b i t u n t l l
 B ~ o o ~ u wN., . Y..
~h WATCH?TOWER*
-Jerc.nliul~ 25;: 12;"B :*la;, co~oprtl't!2 (:IJCOI ti('~t.s 36.: 1 2 ,- ~1nny ~ ltuve h:td i n miud tl~e.fac-tthat.<Egypt.wnsa courttry of ..
Tltt!. Srril~Lureaboue. cited. esttrblisl~ed tlte ftu.t~~ v i t l lcvr-. great ft.rtility, u ~ t dtltut.it1 cuse.of war i t \vo111cl 11c or I~IIII.II
tuiltty tltut.the s e u a ~ t ypears predicted relilted to tlte elltire . cottveniett~!t o Itnvr . I r ~ : ~ ~ s t ~ -as l r ~ tut Srit.tttlly \vr~y-sIittic~lt
deutructiurt ,of the. city of Jwnsnlem..alul dt~swlatiol~ of their,. 11etwcw .his ciy~it&and E g ~ q ) t.
;arid rurd ~ t o t ~ ~ t t e r etol y the 5clil~tJvityof. the. l~t:ol~le.As a . Tl~e:..\vo~tli~ag :of -. tl~e~~-~~roc~l~irr~i~tit~~~~~: "Tltr.. l,o1*11 . (:otl,. oS
1qr1t1t.r of. fiit.1, ovt-r .3,tHMJ Ilttd. IILYSII tt~kt.lt. J t ~ t oc.ttl)ttrlty . Itt.itv1.11 lllltll glvl~ll Illt! 1111 tlll~l i l l l g l l o ~ ~0s ~ s1111. l~rtrlll,rt1111...
t~1o.t.11ycrttln I~c.f4)r1-,\ ~ I I I ~ I.It~ltuiitldm I 11:ttlbt>t*ltdt.ll~ro~tccl .
U I I ~ Itc-*i~ittlt 't'I1itrg4!d d~tt:~ttol ~ k t ~ M l . l ~l~ottst~-.ttt l ~ ~ t ~ ~ ~. Ii~~~ ~ ' t ~ r ( ~ t l t ~ ~ t
k i l l v . ( . I c r t t i i l ~$2 : 2 ) 111 locating tl!is.l~rllotl of sevntty . \vhic:lt- is iu .clutle~l;"~ n i g h t . s w ~to.intpl,v: n* tl~rtt('yrtts. wits-ti .*
years' cltwolittio~t, t~trt~ty have st:~rted with the first ytSt\r of kIicver..in nnil-.:l servnnt o i .,tlte true: ~ U o t l ~ but. .
. \ve Iti~vr:.
r\:rbt,~tittl~tr;rx~lr ttittrtt~rttyellt:r ltrevious itttcl :we thus thrown . no ~c~orroborittive eciclntcw,t o t l ~ i sc*tl'rc.t: rt~tlit*~. tlte rwortln
out tti~t~tt.~.tt yc3i1rs i ~ ttltrlr c~hrottoIogici11c.iil~.~tlr~tionn. lBro-* of ltis tlnlc? rtbSt.r t o .tltit I t e c ~ t h ~ ~ ~ t ~l ~~gt ot t l.s:~t ~ ~ ~ ~IIIIIIC~! ~~rt~~~h
I I I ~ I I I ' I I L Itist~rlrtttsl t i ~ \ ' t *so ::~t~c*t~l11t~eI tltls ~*PI'III' IIII(I g r t t ~ l ~ ~ t ~ lI tl 0y ltlt~tttloll of . r c ~ l t l l ~ ~ t l l l \Ye '.~ llrc*s.lll r l ~ t t l l ~ t t ~IlIn1 ll~t l ~I I~l l ?~
built ltistoricitl ti it ti^ rtrou~td4t t l t i ~ ttlre ~ t t r ~ J o r iot yf ~ r t ~ l l g i o n s lte:~tltt*~t kiaj$s: tve1.e a t thttt. tiltttc..l~t, 8 t I ~ t ~ t 4 ~of : ~ rt~.oflti~i~tg.':
I~it
writtbrs ttow Itoltl to t h a t errolteous view. However, w e tlte ::o:ocls of. sthe vadou~~rou~~brien~\vlti~~l~~ tlwy ~~ovw~rrtI:~:~tttl
s t a ~ t dby the 1:iblr iurd i t nlone, wllerever i t ditYrrs fro111 . wrote, :rind .spoke.~respectfuly~ i ~ t - : r e f r r c ~ tto t ~ .:ill
o of tltt*ltt)!!,
s e c u l i ~ rItistory. :1111):lrerttly..with a view. t!, ])rrsrlvvittg t l t c * ~ ~ r t ~. sf o~r~, tltoir, x ~ t . ..
Tltc first yerir of Cyrus lllelttio~tt!! ~ I I011r I~SSOII i s 11y I X * ~ I I I I06-erery ~ creed, amotigst-tltth \voldl-Il)c.ra.
gelttBrul consellt considered the twgjlt~til~g of t h e year 5:lli
B. C. E v i k t l t l y this does not llielLn tlltlt i t \V:IS his first "CHIEFLE -THE. POOR-OF ITHIS-JVORLV'.
year of reikming ;IS the king of l'tbrsiti ; but tltt~t, hrtvit~g ,\Vlten we rc*nti~~nl)er ~ t l t t ~ ~ ~ l of t ~ ~tilttt*
t ~ t lttl ~ r~ I I ~ I I ~ I I ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
-otltlttered U:~Ltylol~r~lttlttccw~nl)lisltedotltt'r ~ltrlttt~ts s u l ~ s r - 11e~t.11.. in,.Bal~ylo~tl .tl1:tt,.ismihu4lp..:tny o f . tllc. .;It.\vs livirlg :;kt
cluetttly, this ~vitstlte bq'i~t~tirtg of ltis I P ~ ~ IOI Y ~ Pthe 111titetl tltc? tittle oC, t l t i s ~ t . ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ t c t i ~ i a t t i o ~ 118111 t ~ ~ ~tLvt*t'~ ~ ~ ut3t?rt
~ ~ ~ ~:I t t ~ ~ t
entpirt. of the Slctles tlnd 1'ersi:uts 11ssuccessor to l<itl~ylott l':tlrstltte, tltnt t11t.y llrttl nlrrt-1y Itt.:vtl of i t tltroual~
it1 ~vorl(lelupire.
.
tltrir
pr~rettts,:uttl tlti~t!on1y.n fe\v very :tg$~lntm r ~ ~ t \\-ottttBti~:v tl
CYRUS A REMARKABLE CHARACTER" r n t t r r t ~ l ~ c ~ I~:rvir~s
t ~ c ~ ~ l P V ~ Y I . S W I I tlteb raity :IS t + h I l ~ l t ' fit~ ~wilt ,
nob s I 1 1 ~ 1 t ~ it s~t ~s ~ t l tltt* ~ t ~40t4~1
t . I I ~ I ~ I I \o1111ttt~t~rl11g
~ I I ~ ~ to rtbt1~rttI
tltt* I I I I I Y ~ \ v ~ t t ~ l ~ ~tltittgs
r I t t l C I I I ~ I I I ~ I -!vitlt
I ~ ~ I ~11111 story
\\tIS 11llI.l 5tI.OlUI, . 1;ttt
()II~.
to rl~~lllllll t l l l l 1-11sltllll tlll!~rl'ctll~llt~
8
of Isritt.!'~ re~lt~lst* S~YIIIILIitI~.\.lo~tiit~t c.t~l~li\lty 1s tltttt ( ' y r ~ l s tlrr) r\ tltv $1 i.ltoi(*~no,tnn). 1
was l t i ~ n ~ e11y d tltr prol~ltrt Is:~i:~lt2I)i) ~eitlw l i t rttlvitltc.t~,.
and ciLllell u ~ s ~ d~ ~ ~~ is ~sllt,llllerl~ ~ , \\'ti '5uity1~ rt'rulily~snl)pose ~t l ~ c ~tltet ~~tt:ljority~of tltos+~wltn . -
sltilll Ilrrfonlt Il~HLIs e \ r l l S21yillgto .~t,rltSUletll, . tll~llgltr ltpnlt t l t ~Lortl :i~tcl 1v11o t r ~ s t e ditt tltt. I I ~ ~ I I I ~ H I * S

sllillt be l,llilt; iIncl,to tlte trlltl,lt,r TIIS l.olllttl:ttioll nt:111t~to tlltb fzttltc,rs, ~vt~tv- poor: for it scSo~tts ttt:tt i r t t b \ ( ~ 1 : \ .
Bllall be lilid." (lsitirllt44: 2 8 ) IB,.,,~~,,~,. pivc,s ( s ~ , . , , ~ c n w I ~ o v t ~ r ti ys nlorr r:t\or.t1111~ to r ~ ~ l i c l foi~t ti t~l t i ~ t l ~ ;til~l
~~~~s
a , . l o l t O L l e l ~ i l ~ t l,t , , i t i t r i t O l l s , t . e , l ~ ~ l ~ ~ ~ : ttllitlt l is 1~e:tltlt. Ytht tll~. fi11.t tlt:tt S Y I I I I ~ \vtbrts l~otlt
just, trt,iLting lllell 111,, 11,rIII(lItOt Illt,re,tools lte Useel \1(~:rlttt2-rtlld-~t~:llolls is t t l ~ t ~ ~ t ~ l ittJstiti(vl
t t ~ t l , ~ to 11.v tltt* lit,. r ; ~ l
illtd :tsiel-it tt,rllr ,f tillite l ~ i ~ ~ l , r t . t ltylle
t ~ r l l l ~~ l ~ ~ ~ l ~ t r i 1 l l*n~rt(lvl t i o l 111s
~ ,tlti- c g t l ~ t i \ vtsl t ~ ~ ~ t t s ~ * forl \ ctltt~
~ s 1-1,-
tllc. ,vol.itl ~~~~~l I,rtriously st.t.lt.~ ~ ~ l tlt.l.lttrt.s:
~ ~ MI^^ ~ , l ~~u i l c~ l i of
~lt ~I l l ~c h 'll~~t~tl~lt*: 'l'lli, \ i ~ ttt:t.jot.it>,
~ t I I ~ \ V I & \ I T . n.(-rfb
, v s l l l l ~ l, ., i t t l t r t t t l l l ~ t l l ~ i , , ,l l ~t b ~t l ~t t l t r l r l s s e fmvill('lltJ.(. \v(.ll I~I('IIs('II \\itIt Ili(*lr f ( t ~ ~ ~ i * ;IIOIIII,. t~ 118 \vlti~'l~
a11 liittgs." 111:ut.v of tlt('t~tI1it11 IR'I'II Itortt. Jlrt11~I ~ i t ~i ~l t t f - r ~ t t : t r r\vi i ~ ~I t~ I
Kelluc.lliltll,e7,x~s .tllrory of govrrllnlellt, ,vrls brillg . their nridtl~nra.: rtlrtlry ~ v r c .ittttttrrs~~tl 111 IIIIS~I~(.SS ~ ~ r o ; t ~ - t s ;

I.eI )rt,nt,l~trltivt.s of tilt, I,rol,lt,s o f ,i t l l Iiulels to B:lbyloll nlld and ~ I ~ I perl~nps I F felt tltc~rrtsc~lvt~s too oltl fw sue-It :trt ut1d1.1.-
tllt,rc. l l l t l l ~lI1l.lll e ~~Ol~lOgt,llt,O1lnr l.llollsirlx tltc!, lH.ut,,,f tnking. Tltns (lid the 140rtl sift tht*ln, tltiit I I P t t ~ i ~ lxt :t ~ t l t t ~ r
Il:itiollilljt.\.. t(lll ,v~Il,It (syrlls c.lllllollIIoII lllt. ,,,. tile b:~~'lz'lto.tlli~ Inltcl of ~~rotttist. snc.lt o~tlyrtq l l i t ~ l:I S I ~ ~ ~;r(.:~l I ~ I' I ~
l.ollqllt'ror of tlltx ~ ~llplliilll
~ ,pllll)/rt.,
l ~ 11tsj tllilt tlte,, fof'tl* Lor(l atlt(l fl f l l l l trtl*t 111 111sI ) I . ( ) ~ I ~ / Y ( w .

tlleory of 111spretltbcessor llitt~~ t o t t \ w ~ r out k t ~ sitti~ftlctorily.

~ T h e siftin:: of 1srr~c.l11rgrtn it1 tltv scl~:tr:ttio~tof tltc two
The ~ t t i s t ~pwllle d of Cltlll(1ea \\-en3 tot pittriotic. t'yrus t r i b w from tlrr tcBrt trilws; for tilt. n ~ l ~ isl)rfx:ttl tl of it1nl:~try
ndopted the opposite plan f o r goktwti:~:! tllr wo~rld..H e not in tllr ten tribes grildlli~llydrew tltosr fitithft~lto .Jrl~orrtl~
or~lyKitre liberty to the J t v s to n.tud.tt to tlittir own lruld, to t l t ~t\vo-tril~t!Itltiptlo~tt,\vhost* kirtg \vas of tltc~lint* \vltic.I~
the' I.ortl ltrttl 11ro1111st~tl to l~less. I
:ittd gat\-e tltelu ussista~icel~itck,J~utq~ltc* (lid tlte silllte f o r
tlte people of otlter nations, exiled . i t 1 . B;~l~ylon.
BLESSINGS O F THE-DESOLATION
H I S HEART, ST4RREB.BX JEHOVAH. - It1 ~ist.~~lensin:: nlso t o . rtotr tlr:tt in ti162. 1:tnd . o f ! 111c~irx
JVr :lrtb not.told 11s w1111t:~gt.~lc-it*s tltt~~1,ortl ol~c*rit{rd vc.11~11 I: clll>@~it.V isturtcbl.Wtbrerchc*l~tirttc.d frotit i~loltttriYs o . I I t o r t ~ ~ ~ ~ l t l y ~
h e "stirred npll~tli~.he:irt..bf . R i t t r . ( ' y n ~ sto .frlltil t h e divilter nS Itever to I.clturll to i t :IK:L~II; :t11(1 tIttht~,\vitltout tile t1*n111le .-
wi!l 11s Ictti~lggo tlte a ~ p t i v e s . I-Ie~ct,,we aw.qlt liberty t o I nndltitsl ~(~l*\>icvw,-IInby lertnrt~tlto ~itp1)qtu,ic~b~ \vit:it! mrrs l e f t ~
sulqllisp on tile subject. \ye tllink i t likely that, a s Drlniel*. t@&l~~~ll.~t.ill-tllt' \YOrd of God :lltd tile tfb:trltitlg and connsrl
\\-ns sl)pedily lllnde n high officer in the kingclolu, 1163 had of SOllte of tile filltllflll OnrS tllllotlg fllelll, sll('11 ns 1):lnicnl,
:lccess to tile ItIllg, nlld Quite p~.(?h))[)l'y cnl]e(lrtl)t3 kihgls'at.1 Exrtx.::t~ttl i\'t~ll*lttilll~:l t l ~ ~ ~ ~ f o r l tnl oRl d . ~t if( ) g:t\rt' pl:tcLcb to fl
tellti011 to tile scriptures llrllich n1:trl;ecl l~iltlns the divine more rcrtl Iteitvt-norsltil~nl' tltcb one t n ~ v(:otl : nncl t1tc.y \ v ~ * r ( ~
agent, even referring to him by name.-Isaiah '44: 26-28 ; 45.: led a t 0 a fuller u1)prwintiotl of the privileges they had enjoyed,
1-5; .Terentiah 23 : 1-12. as manifested i n 1's:~lnl 137.
It i s qylte posnlhle, nlsq .thnt~tlleLord used other 1ne1~11d The c.ltickf Inen of l T ~ ~ ~ it1111
to s t i r up tltc klttg's Ilenrt. I'oq-lltlyr Cyrltn rcbllt~c.tt*~l tltrtt
l t ~ l tII1~11J:ltttiti.to::t.tlt~r wit11 t h e -
prltssls r t r t t l 1111~l a ~ h v l l ~tool; ~ r ( , ~ I I OIc~tttlIt1 tlti- 1t1111le-r of IIC
by such a course Ite \vould Artilly ~stttl~llslt Itir~t.wIf I r t tl?e v~q)tltt:: t l t t b ~ ~ r o v l s l ~of t t s 1<111g('yrtls' I I ~ Y ~ I . I ~ (*0111~t~r111ttg
I~.
good will of the I S l ' ~ ~ l i t ~\vho~nt~rnb@red h; ntilliotrs :utrortg~t ' ~ I I Potlrt3rs who retun,t.d fmtu exile me m t l tl1:tt they were -
his'new subjects, and c o ~ n p n r ~ t i r efew-of ls n'llotn Ile lnigltt "tltose ~ v l t o sspirit ~ God h:td r:tIsed to go up to 11uiltl tlte .
feel sure would m a i l thenlsdvrrr o f - h i s generous offer of. Ilousr of the 1,ortl wl1i1.11is i t t .Tt.rus:tlerrt." (Verse 5 ) In whtit
liberty t o return to their tllltive lalltl. I t \\.oultl rll~1)e;lrt h a t w:~y tlte Lord rnisrcl tlte4r spirit, o r clisposition, \vtb a r e not
this w a s the custom of Cyrus in* respect t o 4he~reli,%ions~of I info~nteil. \Ye ntny sup~)ose, Iiowever, t h a t tltose \vhose
a l l the various peol>lcs wltom..he conqW&z BiWeoven, hetib Iteltrtst burned nit11 falth in t h e divine pronlises to Isntel,
 and wlto wc:re zealous to be and to do what \vould be acL ual sort,-grwious trutl~s,valr~nbleLe~rrortsutlcl experic~ncSca,.
ceptttbk. ~ I I(:oti's sigltl, \vorild I)e rtw~tkc~rc~tl by tlre dt*c*r~.!! H , Tl~twttC ~ I I I ~ O I Istlcmlt
plvvitlt~ntirtlI C ~ I I I ~ I I ~tst(4. ~ I ~ I 81s
~ rtna of
of 1ii11p ('yntx , \vi~it.It mtts of God's l i ~ s t i ~ t i t l o ~The h fultl~full ~ e u r tto go for\vurti l ~ n dby obetlience to bcvorue
generosity ol' ('yrus \vits ~ ~ ~ i r ~ ; i l ' t~~Ishis It e d sending back the heirs of those glorious tl~ingsthat Cod ltas pro~r~ised to them
prc.c.ious vt~ssc~ls of' t l ~ cTrnrl~kb,\vlricll ~lrustl~rlrebee11 of that love 111111.
i111t11t4tst~\ 11 1\11'. Tilt- lttl.gt*r vt.s~t'Is1116 ' ' e1111111t~lllt~d-ill 1111, No onc slloi111l Ite urged to cornc! out of Bitbylon. If n i l & .
249!). 'J'ht*st., wit 11 tllt: sttt:tllt.r rtrLicl~%tot s y ~ ~ i f i elunounted
d, ( I o P ~l10t COlIllL (Illt joyfully, "w1tl1 slllgirlg," ulrtltill~Ebelaly
to 5400.-Vt~~~sr11. in ilis heart to the Lord, glttd of tile opportu~lityof ~!llling.
It sl~ouldbe ~toticecl,in reading Ezm's account of the out, glitd of the opporturtiI.y of getting away froill the error
return fro111 c:~l)tivity,tlknt the division of tire nation of and into tlie plrlce of divine fuvor ant1 iitll6~ritllnc*r of the
Jslxel was tlo lortgt.r rcv~ogt~izetl :tl'ter tlte return. They rlre clivint. pro~nises,let llirn sttly i r ~Il:~l~ylor~. If IN! lovcbs l l ~ t t
i u v ~ i r l ~ ~sl~okc.~~
bly of rls "nil 1It1* ~ ~ t ~ oofl ~INI':II~~'~
lc ; tt1111 tl~tw* tl~lngsor t11l.q11rt.xc.1tt ~ I I I I I ~I I, I P stn,i:~II I I I Y I I I I I I I ~ I : ( W of LIt~I)~~lott,
s t : ~ I t ~ ~ t ~r\rtB
t ~ t t11:111th
~ r s r t ~ ~ ~ t ~ ~ t Y11e
l t ~ ~ten l l y .tri11t*sof Ixrrtel tltr I ~ ~ ~ s i nadva~itngt~s
t~ss 111tt1 tq~~~ortunitit~s, tile gre:iter Itonor
\v(.rt. 110 illore "lostw-us delutlrcl Anglo-Is~-,~elitrs assrrt- of mm, the greater con~fortand ease, let Iliiu so indicate to
tl~itr~ \vercJ tl~t* g~'ta:~t
IIIUSS of those c.:lr~Secl:t\v:ly c.rtpti\e fmin the I.orc1 alld refuse to rexlwrrd to the Lord's inessiige.
Juditl~~ v l ~r ~ o t ~ ~ l t ~ to
t ~ trt*tuil~
c ~ t l to I':~lc~sti~le untler the pro-
clnlnatiot~of 1<111:: ('yrtis. "ALL THINGS WOllK TOGETHER FOR COOL)"
IVhile our text has solur ril~plic.atior~to tlll \vho t t t i ~ n y
THE RETURN FROM MYSTIC. BABYLON tiute have loved the Lonl, yet it \\-:Lswrittt'n to Spiritrrill
\Ire 11ilvr i ~ l r i ~ istl(~n ~ d ~ tl~itt 11:ttur:11Isri~el's cuptivity in Isrilel, not Naturi~lIsri~el,ant1 its cl~irbfrst apl~lic.:ttior~is.
Ballylott is St.ril~tul;tlly rt-l~rt~st~~~tt-tl ns a figure of tlte to the Kew Crentiorl. 1'1ol:erly tlreir, tlte qurstiol~sitrise,
c:tl~tivit.y of s l ~ i r i t r ~ iIsr;\rt ~l in ~ n j s t i cBitbslon; rind that How are these things \vorltil~gbetter for us t11irr1 for the
tl~t.i1elivrntl11.t.11) ('.I 111s \v:ls to S I J I I I I ~estent a rrprest.~~tation world? Do riot Ul~ristii~ns die tllr srtlrle :IS ur~briievers,tlte
of tllr drlivt~ri~nc.e of sl~ll'ilu:~l Tsr:rc~litt~s fro111inystic. I::IIIJ Ion srtlne :IS Jews, tlte same its ~ ~ O ~ I : L I I I I Ithe I ~ ~sirnte
: L I ~:ISY ,the
by Clirist : tl1:11tile 1:tII of f::~l~.\-lo~~ bt~fore<'yrns ~ v i ~ fixnr:i-
s Iteittllt~i~? Do they not 11:ivt~their sh;tw of siiakitt.ss, SOITOW,
tive of tl~t*IzLII ~ I I(:rc~;tt." i~ntltl\:tt tlle riles- anel 11iti11in connection tvitlt tileir dyi~tgr s l ) e r l ~ ~ n ~ Sjllirtlly
al' " I : : I ~ I J ~tl113 't~s?
sage, "Alt.~tc*,Jlt-IIO,'l't~ktbl, l-l~lt:rrsi~~," rtppliecl not o ~ ~ ltog rtonr c.;tndispute the t r u t l t f ~ l r ~ r of s s this s ~ ~ g g t ~ s t!i o\Vllcsrt!-
r~
-litt*ri~l 1::tI)~1011, I~ul :~lsot~o\v :tl~l~litbs to ntystic B:~bylon. ill tltcsn, slr:~ll we sax, is tllere r t t t atlvnutrtge in bring :I
In \.it.\\, of tltt~sc~ t11i11ysit is I n ~ tproper that we sltould f:iitllful sl)iritual Isnielitr? If all the world is redee~utvlby
consitlt~r Isr;~t~l's rt,111r11front I ~ : I I ) J I ~its I I to soitir eBxti~nt tht- prwious blood of Christ, if all the world is to 1r:tve a
reprt.st.~~ti~~g lltt* tlt~livt~~.;~~tc~r of t l ~ rzeiilous of sl)iritu:tl blt*ssIt~g under Blessiah's glorious reign of a thous:lr~tlyth:lrs,
J~ritt'l ~ I ' O I I I 111:stie. I ~ : I ~ ~ ~ ~ I I\ I\ It -~-kI II~ \ \ . ilk ~ I ~ I I Z ~ ~ ~tt11t1 S S .if tl~ch:~nc.it.nt wortl~itw:Itrb to ltr~\t% 1111* Ilt.st 111i1c.c. i r ~
"~'olllt~ ell11 ltf Ilt~l.,Illy ~ l t ~ t l ~ l l ~ ~st1
lllilt , I)(! !lot ~~ltt*l:ll<t~rs of tilt. kir~gtlo~t~ t111ltwill ~ I I I * I I 1~ c~sl.~blIsl~etl 1111il1'r1111. wl~olo
httr sills, i l t ~ t l tl~:i(.\cb rthceire not of her phgues."- Iteve- hettrc~~~s, \\-l~:rtwill be tileb : ~ d \ . i ~ ~ ~ tifi ~:gLeI, I to ~ , tt~osr\v110
lution 18 : 4. have been faithful and lojitl sl~iritual1sr:telitc.s-to tltose
But no\\-, :IS t11c.11,c.o~~~l~:~rati\rl.v few, even of the cbnse- who have come out of I I I J sticdUal~ylon,11:lve el1tlurt.1111:lrd-
cr:ttrd cl:~ss, :tvv ~\.illit~g to u~ttlt~t.t:tketlie trials and dim- ness a s gooel soltlif~l'sr11t(1 11:tvc. sougltt to lily eio\vt~ tl~eir.
cultit-s i t t t . i i l c ~ ~ ~tol 1 1 1 t h It.itvi~~g of Ole settled rifTuim, twm- lives 111 tl16- B i r t s t t ~ x(>r\rliatb,
'~ i r ~tilts st-rvii,t*oC l l ~ i *I I I ~ I ~ I I I ~ I ~ I I ,
fort:~blt*clu;irtt-rs. c.l~t\trrtc.t s, c~r~g;~gt.~rtetits, etc.,' e~rtrredinto In tile Sc'rrict~ of tltc truth, 111 tl16~sc.rvic.e of (jotl?
in Nr~bylolt. 1'111. o111.volltls clisl~osrtl to risk the Ilardships The ri(lvtint~rgrsof tltis c.I:tss rlrr r ~ r ~ n ~ t ~ r:tnd o u s ,1:ly Itoltl
:111el to go f'ortl~illto tltr tlt:.lrvt, It.:\\ ill:: tlrr strong w:rlls :trltl upon the present life, ils \vt.ll :IS tl~:tt n l ~ i c . l l ix to c.olrlcl. Irt
~we~ttv~liolt ol s t ~ c ~ t : t t ~ l r ~rtrtb
~ ~ itltost.
s ~ n , \\*lto I ~ r l v tgrtsitt
~ c.ot~ti- the l ~ r + ~ x ttittt(*,
~ n t it is ~ I I P~~~*ivilc.gt! of tltt-sc. to c.njo.y tit(?
I I I ~ I I I111 s c - s to pcntr2 of (:otl, wltic.11 ~~rtssrtli
~ (;4111:IIIII~ I ~ I V I I S I I I B I * ~f't)~.the ~ ~ r i n ~ ~ i1111ti1t~ :\I1 I I I I I I I ~ I I~~~ t ~ t I c ~ r ~ t : ~lttt ~ l / t ~ g .
1lrr sc.tbtl ol' .\ltr~:tlt;un. Tltr call to return to the old pittlrs, is tlltbir privilrge to k l ~ w by faith tl~rtt:111 tl~il~fis atre work-
ill111 to ~'el~ttiltl t h t ~Ttbntl~lrof tltr -Lord, icnd to replnte ing togrtltrr for goo11 to tl16~n1bwnuse tlle.1 love (:od. I t is
t l ~ r r r i ~t lt ~ rvt.ssc.1~ of ::oltl i111tlxiltc.r ( t h e precious trutlls of tlteir privllc.fie to rritlize tlti~t\vh:ttevei. III:I?. I I : I J I to
~ Iothers
~~
tile elivilrt1 \\'o~-tl-srttir~g t11eti1 it1 order as a t first) is a p in tltrb wa~rltl,~lotl~iltg (7111 k u p l ) r ~ t ,so f i ~ r:I* titry itre con-
prt.caitttt3t111.1 the few only; yet 1i1t.w :Ire eltcouri~g(~il by the wntt~tl.'l'ilc 11- r~n'r~i~w rtrltl interests nrt! :I I I yu11.itr.t to 11 ilivir~e
Lortl's pro\ idt.r~ct>s, by the riclii*~I~t.slo\vedupon t l t r ~ nfrom supc>rvisiol~.KO \vondrr tiley cwn have 1)citc.e i n every storm 1
every clu#rtthr-not riches of an e:trtlily kind, but of :I spirit- No \vorlder they are able to rejoice even in tribulation 1

THE TEMPLE REBUILT

TEMPLE ~81'0KSI'IoN111YXICULT -3fAXING UESODY IN THE HEART -
MAINTAINING THE HIGHEST STANDARD -BUILDING THE
TRUE TEXPLE -
TIIE CHTJPGH A TE.\II'LE EVER NOW.
" d l , ~8i1rl lor~ueth,yea, even fnintetl~for the courts of Jeho~nh."--l'salm 84: 2.
The toilsome jounley ended, they iirr:tll~-rtbsttyl i ~ .Tt~ru- t
T HE xt~turni~tg Isr:~t~litrs left their friends in Babylon,
full of zc.:11, :111dto S I I I I I ~t%stt.nt
~ nc11uirt.d by their niore
worldly-~vist. c.ot~~ltittr.iots,~vllo l)rc4tbrred to rt.rn:tin
ill tile forctign 1rr11tl. ' ~ I I I . t~stv)vtqr1111ttv1 Il~rrttI I tltc~ king,
salcm, only to find still grcwtt-r tlisc.o~l~.itgt~~~~c.nts.
very ft:w of t110it111ittlr\.fSr strtsn t111. III:I~.I*
few h11d s t * c * t ~tl~rollgl~
1:ut a :
I)c.Sor.~.,r r t ~ t l Iltow ..
ti111 thy(*oS I ~ I I ~ I I I I ISor
~ I II I~I I I' ,i . 1 1 , ~ 111161 .
I l t c b 11rt~st~nts
of ~r~ottt~y, :IIIII I I I I I t*osIIy ~ ( ' s H I ~ I N of llle tot11l11e 1r1in dcsolrttc, ttccortlll~gto tlte \\'orti ol ( I t v I.ortl, ('or SI.~I.II(.V
~rr<~i<*t>, were with tl1t.111;:11tt1 their Iropcu mn 11igh rts years. ( 2 Cllronicles 30: 21) Tlie n:11I u~ttltlrt: t t ~ r t ~ l 11:ttl ~lt~
they began their j o u r ~ ~ eof y nc~nrly 800 miles, about the been dt~molis11Nby Nebuchndnezzar's orders, tutti ~~titlly of t
distance from Philadelpl~iato Chicago. According to tra- the private .residences \vri-e nlso left in ruins, and now for
dition, they must have been about four ~nonthstrnvrlling, seventy ytbars of Such dtviolntions, "\vitl~outiltlrabit:~rtt," tlte .
whereas an express tlain in our day woiild make the plrlcrt w i ~ s a wil8erness. Trees merc g~.o\vin$ ill \\.ti:tt 7
distance in seventeen houm foruterly were streets. Everything Wits disorder. Auy other :
 ~k WATCH TOWER
rlrlss 1llr111lI~o.rcbf11l1 or f:1ll11 1111tl zt-r~l, 11s thc~se were,
~ ' o l l l d11:lvl' 11. ('11 I l l I ( ' I ' I ~ \'(ls~'0111':1~l'lI.
\Ve 2u.t. lo 1.1 I I I ( 1111)c.r(Irt~tIllc. 1,ol.d tl111s tricls our [.I)II~:I#(~,
a l ~ df i ~ i t li ~~ ~ l tz1+:11, l not 10 tlc~stroy tllt'sc' q ~ ~ : ~ l i t i11ut i ~ s , to
dc.cqtc*r~iu~tl t i s 1111 111-lo c ~ s l : ~ l ~ l iIIS, s l ~ l o tl<.vc.lt)l~11s 111
c l ~ : i r : ~ ( * t1 i~ 1s. \vitl~~ I I I *t>])iv:~II s r : ~ ( ~ l i t t ~ l ~s i * rso ~ ~it, 1s IIOIV
wit 11 tllc* s11irilu;ll Is~~c~lilcs--;~ I l srlc.l~ 1 r y i l ~ gc-xlrc*ric~r~c~i*s, MAINTAINING TIIE IIIGIIEST STAN1)AItI)
1111t1i.rd i v i ~ ~ c~)rovitliv~cr,* will nark out tit our : I I ~ \ : I I I ~ : I ~ ( ~ 1'11:11 1 IN. c ~ s l t ~ * c ~ s"\vill~ok~l s i o ~ ~ : I I I i ~ ~ l ~ : ~ l t iili~l t : ~11ot ~ ~ lrt'l't'r "
if nrcB will but ~)c~rsc\vc~ru* i n our f':tifl~,: I I I I ~ Iovi~:111i1 z t ~ i ~ l . to i~tilivitln:~ls of c.ct11c.r ~ ~ : ~ t i o ~ r i ~ lis i t i ciirll)licbd
.s in tile 1:s-
I t rcql~irotlInert tl1:111n yc:1r to put tl~c~~rrst~lvc~s ill rc :ison- ~ ) r c ~ s s tilt. i o ~"l)roplt*
~ of tho l i ~ ~ ~ i\vI~o l , " \ ~ ( ~ r111('rr t' \v11(~11 1111,
nblv i*o1111itio11 for I i v l ~ l ~:IIIII , 1111~1 1l11,ir 1111iv1lio11 ~ I I I . I I I * I ~ .IIWS 1.1.1 I I ~ I I ( Y ~ . ' ~ Y I I . ~ I >i s 110 I ' I - ~ I S O I I 1 0 I ) ( ~ ~ I ~ v I111:11 - 1111~1.1~
t o ll111 r ( ~ l ) ~ ~ i l iol' l i ~t l~~ gi s 1 1 ~ 1 1 1 j ~ l t h . 'IYIIII 1I1(*ySIIOIIIII I I : I \ I * \vc,l.cb: I I I ~ .It'\vs \vl~:~tc~vc>r ill 1111. I r 1 1 1 t l 1'01. 1111, tbrllirc.pcsrIotl of
bcJgulr so malt to t l ~ i ~of~tlw k 11o~st'of the 1,ord ~1)~':tli'i\\i41 st-vc.11ty yt.:r I'S, :IS forc.loIc1 by . I i ~ r t w i11. :~
of their spiritu:~lrorlclitio~~.Tl1c.y npprar to 11:1vt. In1111c~t1i:r tcl- Thest. "l)c~ol)lrof t l ~ t >1:111tl" ( s ~ ~ l t s t ~ l ~~ I~I Oi \~V ~ ~ t lS:I-
I I :IS y
lg loc*:~trclill t l ~ o i rv:~riou.rc.iticas, ~vltich hat1 ~ I W I lleitller I I I : I ~ ~ ~ : ! I I S )'\vt11.1*ilisl~o~t*tl to I)(: fri(~1111ly to 111tl ~ C ~ ~ I I ~ I I I * ~
c~~tircaly t11~sl rojc>tl 11or c)t.c.~:l)ic~tl Ity c)tllc~~)c'ol)li'(111ri11gtll(>ir lsr:ti*Iilt~s. ::!I(! ~ t r o l ' l ' ~ ~tlktbir r ~ ~ ~ l:tic1 i11 1111, 1111iI(li1)x ot' 1 1 1 4 ~
~ I ~ I S I ~ 1)111 I I I - Ii l~l , I * ~ I I I I ~ I ;10I I : I)I* I ~ ~ i ~ - i ~ ~ l ~ : ~ l )'l'l~tay i l i - i l .II:L(I 11.1111~1~'. 1:lll lI11~11' :lssisf:llll'~' \\.:IS rl'~11sl'lI: 1'01' I I l l ' Isl.:l"lil~'s
1>l'ol1:1l,ly slilrli'il f1'0111 1: !I)> 1011 (~:lrIyi l l 111(* I I ~ ' I I ~ ( ~yr21r; 'L\. ~ V : Iliztstl 1l1:l t if tllc~sc." s t r : ~ ~ ~ g c ~\\'IT(. ~ . s " l ) ( ~ r l ~lvd l i l lo s ~ I : I ~ ( !
: I I I ~ if t l l ~ ys1).*111 I I I ~ I - I *o r 1110rt~ I I I O I I ~ ~ I ('S 11 r o ~ ~ t t 'they, ill 1111. ~vo1.1; of c.o~~strrlc~li~~;' tllc, ~ ( ' I I I I I I111(~?. I, ('011111 \\-it!l
c1oul)tlc~ssrr.:~c.hvtl I1:tlc~slinc. :\l1o111tl~c! fo~u'th n ~ o n t l ~ lly . p r o l t ~ ~ i t ~I,I:I~IIIly :I S I I : I I Y ~:11so ill i l i ( * l ; ~ l i 1111% ~ ~ gI ~ I I : I I . : I ( . I ( * ~ of
~ I I I * sc.vc-111l1111o11111111i~y:ISSI*IIIIII(-~~ 111 . T C ~ I I S ~ I ~ I ~for I I I tho 1111%\vorsI~i])\vItii*l~\vot~l(l I ~ s ~ : I I ~ I ~ s I I I ~ I II ~ ~ I X : *I I; ~ I I .111:1t
$:IS ol' : I ~ O I I ( ~ I I I ( ~ I s(*r\ I~ i(*i>s.-lCzr:t 2: 70; 3 : 3-7. Illis \VOIIIII OIII-11 t l ~ t ~*I O O I . to I:lsily i l l ~ x * l i g i o 111:1tto1~s, ~~s :IIIII
11i~rl1:1ps lo 1 l 1 t a 0111 iilol:tI~~y, ~ ) I I : I ( Y . O I I I I ~ &)I' 1vI1ic.1~ tiit, IAorcl
MAHlNG MELODY IN THE HEART 11:1d so sc~c.l.c.ly c.l~:~stis~-tl Isl'i~t~l.
1v-11I of zoi~l for tllc. I.tr~.tl's c.:rnss. tl!c* l!(bo~)Io c.cslc l~t.;~tc.d \V~II*II " ~ I I I ~p ~ ~ o p l0:' o t l ~ i1:111il" ~ 1'0111111t l l i ~ t tl~t'ir I I I O I I ( ~ . V
11111 V I > I - I I ( ~ ~ - S ~ 1 ~ Ii I1I y
~ i 111'1 ~ t l ~ vI I I ~ W t~I I I I I I V wit11 .joy :IIIII zt-111. :und st-~.vic.c.s\v(kr(b1101 :IIY.(~)::IIII(~, : I I I I I t l ~ : ~lllcy t c.c)ultl 11;rvc:
O I I ( I)(. ~ 1l1(1 s11(yi:1l I'(-:I~IIY(IS o r lI1(4r \ v o r s I ~ i ~\\.:I< ) ~ ) t . : ~ l s i \ ; 111,i1l)t*r 11:ll.l or lo! i l l I \ I I \ I * O I I S ~ ~ I I ( ~ ~oI' ~ O 1I 1I 1 1 ~l,o~.il's I I I ) I I S I ~ ,
111111 \ j i b 1 l 1 i 1 1 l i it S:I(.I~ lo s:~y ll1:11 < i ~ ) g i 1111~ ~ ~ gl , o ~ ~ l '111*:1is(~ < 11 oll'l~lltli~tl 1 Il('111 : l l l i l 111.1111~ lIl('111 ( ' l l t ' l l l i < ' ~ : 1111i1 1'1.01111 Ililt
II:IS IIIY-11 ~ I I I I I I I I C S1l1c. ~ gl'c~;~l~.st l~lc~ssings r111t1ltrivil(~gc&s of ti11111O I I \ ~ : I Y I ~ 111t.y l):srsislc~~~lly O ~ I I I O ~ X Y Ill(, I \~i>rli 1 1 1 ~
~vor.sl~il) c~~~jo.!c.tl 11y tl1c1 I:~l~gc-sl I I I I I I I ~ I I ' ~of t l ~ o Lord's ~)(W]IIP Isr:~c~litc~s. So it will IJI. \\it11 s])iril:r:rl Is~.:~c~l. Tllosck ivlro
tl~rol~gllout tl~i.; gor1)c.l :~*rc.:~lso. Tl~caI)on'clr to p n ~ i s c(:of1 ~ c o ~ ~ s t ~ i ~ ~ ~I i~wt i SoI ~~I I~I I s. : lI ~y( SI.OIII ~ t111, \vo1.111 i11 s11i1.il11:rl
ill s011g Il:ls I,l.i.ll 1'011S1'1'1'1'i1 1 1 ~ ) 0 1 1 111:111 ollly \'pi- :Ill i':lrlllly 111:111t~rs. :IIIII r i ~ ~ ~ o g :IS ~ ~l)r1*111r(,11
iz~b ill ( 'I11~is1 o111yll~os(-\vl~o
1~r1~;~111ros, : I I I I ~ l~t)\v: I ] ) ~ I I * ~ I ) ll1:11 I . ~ : I I~I PI *SIIOIII~I IISO this (YIII"~I%SS11) i~irc11111(.isio11 !)I'1111,III-:II.~ : I I I I I :t(lol)tio~~ illlo (:~)il's
p0wc.r to 1)1':1istbtlrc- I<i~tgof Iii~lfs! fanlily, will filtcl tl~eil~sc~lvc~s ol)l)osc.tl 1)sr~~or:ilisls, lilti~r:~lisls
If tllosc. Is~.:~c~iil(*s, tllc~I I ~ I I S I Iof sc-rv:~~~ts, rt-tll1'11i11;'from allti I~igllc>r critics, a s \voII :IS 11y tllth 111:1ssc-s,lvllo 11:ltc. the
t l ~ r i rl)o1111:1ge ~ I I I I I ~ ( I I I I - I I I ~ ) ~tilt* ~ ~ ~I . IO I\ (~, I I : I I I ~ ] I I * ~ I I I ~ S ~of IS ligl11. I~+.c.:~nst~ it ront11~11111s tl~cdr tl:~~~li~~c~ss-tlo~*lri~~:~l :~r~tl
Go11 to ~ I I I L III:III I I , I*:IIISI* for si11gi11g:IIIII S I I O I I I ~ I I ~. I t I I O ~ ~ I I I ' S oll~c*r\visc~. X i ~ v ~ ~ r t l ~ c ~I ll ~ i ~i siss, 1111% o111y goo~l :IIIII s : (.I:~
]tri~isc,, 11111141I I I I ) ~ III:IVI* ~ \v(~,\vl~oII(~~IJII;'11) 1111' IIOIISI* oL) I*IIIII.SI* 10 ])III.SII(~. 1!1,111&1~ ~':II.is I f ll1:11 o111y II.II(- l s t ~ : ~ ~ * l i l ~ ~ s
sons 111111 I I : I ~ I > I ~ O I I I I ~it111 of 1{:1I)ylo11.~r1s:11I.:III.V 10 lt>ll sllolllil IN* r l ~ l ~ o ~ 1 l i11s z ~ ~llrl~lllrell,
(l :1111l 1I111s 1I1e \ V I l ~ ~ l l lI)(?
abro:ltl t l l ~g1'(3;1t t l ~ i ~ ~ \vl~ic.l~
c s 1111' 1.01.tl 11:1tl1(1o11(~ Sor 11s. sc'p:~r : ttxd ~ f r o n ~ tlre t:krrs.
IVv ~ v ~ :III ~ rs(*r\:111ts
i ~ of silt OII(.I~, 1t11i11.r1111, I)oIII~:I,:(* of SOIII~: O I I ~ . II:IS ~vvlls:~i(l: "The C l ~ r i s t i i ~ i11
~ ttl~tx\vorltl i s
sill, ~ ~ I I ~ I . : I I I I * s11~)1~rsli1i011
I~, :IIIII 11(*:1111, l)111(;oil. ~ I I I ~ O I I ~1 I 1I 1 ~ l i l ; t b :I ~ 1 1 1 1 1 111 1111,OI-IYIII. '1'111~s11ij) Is s:11'ib ~ I Il l ~ t *I ) I V - : I I I so
(:rc111t C1yrtls, II:IS 111~r111ilIt~il 11s lo go l'~.ibi-. A ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~1011;'~ ~:IS~ l l~~ t *~OI.I~:III ~ ~ 1s l :1101~ 111 l ~l l t t~. sl~il)." l y , OIII~ II)\V~-I.S 1111.
tl~c*rc~fo~.c~, our first sf(.])s l ~ o ~ t lIIIJ t l to rc.c.ozl~izc.t l l c . s:~c.l~itic*(~ st:11114;1l.tlof tloc.tri~lc,also; for tlrc uri11is1i.rwllo rc~:rlizc.sIll:lt.
of t l ~ > ( ~ l t : ~: IrI I,I \ ~ I I P I I oiTtbr 11~1isis 111 \:ill! ~ v l ~II:IIII o I~:IIII~II: ~ tIib:~stIl~~.c*i~-fou~.tl~s 6f his 1.0: ;:iiy:~liol~ n o ~ ~ lIIV t l r.c*1)i5llc tl
11s 0111 of ~ I : I ~ I < I I C *illto ~ S his I I I < I I + \ ~ ~ ~ Oligl~t, II~ fol- "II(* 1111tlt by t l ~ c] I I ~ I ~ s I ~ I ~ ~of : I ~str011g
~ ~ I I IIII,:II I)!' 11.11tl1,~vil11l1olils 1I1e
D I I ~:I I I ~ W so^^;: illto our I I I V I I ~ ~ I St ,' \ c - l ~ tlrc' lovillg I t i ~ ~ t l ~ ~ cF~ ~sI sI I I:IIIII
I , , J ~ ~ I . I I I tl~osc> ~~S \ I - ~ I O I I I ~ I V I S ~ I Y > I IIIII>:I~,~ a1111 1*011lil
of our (;oil." : I ~ I ~ ) I ~ I:IIIII ~ I .IISV ~ : : It~ (to~ : I I ~ ~ : I I Ilo~ ~: II. I~) \ V~ \vi>:kk, ~, lo st:trv(*.
T l ~ t *.I]~t!slli~: I S S I I ~ ( > S11s ll1:11, I I I I \ \ I ~ ~ I ~ I :. I ~ I ~ I I ~ I I i~l l -I I ~ I~J:' I I~~(~~~, I I ~ I ~ 1 1 1Ii Ib I \vorlilly
I ) I . I ~ , s11il.il : I I I I I 1111, f111Ivr tr~;1s111*y
spiri11g :IIIII r c ~ ~ ~ * t 111.t~ ~ s l flit*~ i ~s ~o ~ g ~ of g s 0111. li])s, still 111ori> 11:1vi*:1tl1.;1(~11~il ' ' S ~ I Y I I I ~ ( > I . S " illto 111(* ~ I I ~ O I ' I ~ S S ~ Y 111i11istl.y I of
:~pl)riq>ri:tl(~ :IIIII sl i l l 111ort~ : I ~ I ] I I . I ~ ~ * ~ : I OC ~ ( * Ililts
~ : I I . IO~ I I ~ 1 l 1 t s gos])~sl,J I I : I I I ~ of \ ~ I I O I I I I<IIO\V 11i~i1111.r 1111. 1,o1~111or l ~ i s
I ~ r ; ~ r t - s o ~ 111(, ~ g s Joy , :111tl rcb.ioic*ing of l h c nvw I I I ~ I I I ~ - - " S ~ I I ~ - IVortl, :nttl \ ~ I I I >c.o~~sc~clac~~~tly :Ire tlloror~gl~ly 11111)rt~11;1ri~d to
illa: :IIIII 111it1ti11g 111(~1oiIy in our 1111:1rts11111o 11111 I,or(l." l'c.c*tl 1l1c1 1rut. sl1t.011 \vckrc*t11t.y thvc*rso \\.I~I I t l isl)osc*tl. One
( ~ : ~ I I ( , S ~5 : I:I1:) I SI ~111il this joy ;1n11 sil~ging~ I It 1 1 ~I~ibt~rt, ol' t11c: great ~ l i f l i ~ ~ ~ wit11 ~ l l i r (>111~isli:111ily
s toil:^?. is t11:lt i t
this JI~':I~~-~~I:III~~~II~I('RS to tI1(1(;iv('l' of all good, ~~rc.c~ss;~rily II;IS :111111itto(l t l ~ is ~ l r : ~ ~ ~ g t *t11c ~ . s ,"1)01q)lv01' t l ~ cI:III~I,": ~ n d
t i ~ ~ t lr sq ) r t . s s i o ~ ~11o1 , o111y i l l ('l~l.isti:~rlc+nlsls, I)nt : ~ l s oin rc.c.ognizcvl t h r n ~:IS ( :l~l*isI i:~r~s. I t tlocas illjury. not o11ly to
1111 l l ~ r:~c.ts:111i1 \vo1.11~ 01' lil'i-:~ll of ~\.ltic.l~ cao~~slitlltc~ Ille tl~i!('I~risti:~ns,l)y I o ~ v i ~ ~ ~ i ~ st:11111:1rtls ~ g ) l ~ t ~ i(rf o r t11v ~ I ~ Y ~ I T ~ ~ G
I I ~ I I I Iof I III.:I~SI. : I I I < I I I ~ n ~ ~ l : s g i vi+o111i1111:1lly i~~g : I N ~ ~ ~ ~ I I ( I)I(*- I I I ~ will I)(. c~ot~sltl~~rc~tl 1111. stt~~;il:rl~tl ) . 1,111 i f :11so i l ~ j ~ ~ rI iI I'Ps
for^. (:oil I'l.0111 his 11 .oplc.. " s I r : ~ ~ ~ g ~ 1)g ~ r s~, :"L I I S ~ I III ~: I I I ~ of 111(1111 11) 111~Ii1~vi- ~III*IIIS(*I~I>S
Tile sllouls \vi.~-(>tlisc.ol.tl:lr11-sot111~of joy, solne of \vc1t\p- s:~ftl,: ~ n dneeding I I O col~vt~rsior~. I I I ~ : I I I S ~111i~y ~ :119rout\v:~rdly
ing. Tl~oscl~vllol ~ o l i t ~ tfol9\v:~l.il l i l l I I O ~ I O s l ~ o ~ ~ t for c \ d joy. rc~sltc~c.t:~Itle, tlnd perll:tps frtuluc~111l.y:~ttcwtli~r~ts :it pultlic
'I'l~osc.\\ llo IooI~I'II t~~c~l;\r:l~.tl. t l l f t l ~ ) i ~ ~ l l l111~rorc l l ~ ~ l tlli'ir I I I ~ I I I ~ S \vol.sl~ilt.
~ 0 l O l l l O l l ' ;~~ t ' : l l l l l (1'111111(', \\'lbllf I I S I I l l ' ) ~ ~ 1 1 ~ 1l t f1 1111% ~ ~ 1 111- ~ JIUI1,I)IM~; TllE TItUE 1'EMI8IAE
siyl~Ill~.ru~c,c~ of 1111. I ) I ' ~ ~ < ~ ~ o~lc* I I I 111 I * ~ I I I ~ I : I ~ ~ S I I Al~tl II. so lotl;~y 111 1114. 11gl1t ol' 11111 tc~:~c~lri~~gs 01' 1111' r ~ l ) o s l l ~IVI'~ s scscS1l11tt
: I I I I O I I ~ s~)it~i111:1I l s ~ ~ : ~ i ~ 1111~r1, l i l ~ ~ :sI ,~ ( ~ . S O I I I 1v11o ~~ \v(>ibpSOI. 1111. :1111i type' of tl1:lt t r n ~ l ) l i\v:~s ~ 1 I I P ollcb tl-rlt' cbl~urrl )f l l ~ e
111th past, w11c.n tllry sl~oulcl I)(* r t ~ j o i t ~ i ~for ~ ; : t l ~ ef ~ ~ t \ ~ r pliviltg . C:otl, \\'hose names nre \\-rille11 ill Ilt::~vc!ll ( 1 Corin-
'Fll(. Apostle c ~ s l ~ o r tuss to "forgcbt tllc. tllil~gs \vII~(.II :IN> t l ~ i : l l ~3s: 36, 37; 1,uke 30: 20)-tl1:11 it is :L spiritu:tl trll~ple
I)cbl~ind,nnr1 to plrass for\v:~rtl to t l ~ rt l ~ i ~ ~ \vl~ic.il
g s :~r(bI)(.- 1)11iIt111) will1 1ivi11gsto~r(~s, of wl~ii:l~ .JI>SIIS C l ~ r i s tis 11it11-
fore." The lessons \vi. 1#':1r11f1'0111D : I S ~ P S ~ I * I - ~ ( (~* vI (I~~I~I~I ~II ~) I SI I , sclf tllc. o11ic.f cornrr stone, tltc s ~ r fo1111di1tio11. e If(: brcnrl~e
adverse erpcriellccs, w l ~ i l tthey ~ s)~ouldbc: kipt i l l I I I ( ~ I I I O ~ ~ , tllchf o o ~ ~ t l : ~ tof i o ~this l s]drit11:1l I~oosewhen 11c gilvc Ikis life
 = WATCH TOWER '

a runsoul for nluny, 1111tlillus ~ ~ l i l l l1)ossible

e t h e building sense regnrded as the te~llpleOP ( ; ~ t lIIOIV, : I I I I ~ tllf: VILP~OUS
11p or ot111.r l i v i ~ ~st011(1s
g I I ~ I ~ I I1l11s
I I ' I J I I I I ~ ~ : tlntil
I ~ ~ I Jtll(1I I WOII- I I I ~ ~ I I I I I I ~ IMU
N It# builders, ull I I U V ~ I I LS:O I I I ~ ~ I ~ I I I I F10 : do 111
deriul slrtlctnre sllall reucl~ ils gluriolls cui~~pletent%s.- buildlt~gertcah other up 111 the 111ost Iloly f ~ i i l k ,and tftUs
1 l'etsr 2 : 4-7. cor~tril~uting to the structure of the t e ~ u l ~ loer d1urc11 as
n 1vho11.. Tllis work of t~uildingup the cl~urc-11 is vclry clr.urly
\\'hen this for~ntlntior~ of tllv sl~iritu:~lt t * l ~ ~ p\vits l t ~ I:titl,
all wlto I * I I I I I ~to it r~vtliz:ttiv~~ of t l ~ I,I L I ~ I ~ V ~I)!': I IIIII Ic .~gre:~t ~. sc~tSort11 i l l tilt* I~uiltlingof t 1 1 ~typic.~tl ~ I ~ I I I ~t tI ~~~I tthe . l;
work tllert~l~y ictr~ol~~l~lisl~c-ti rt:joic.t.tl :t11+1 ~ ) r : ~ i s t ~~ItIl V 1,ortl. r e b u l l ~ l i ~of~ gt11e tt~111l111s :tft~*rtht, tba~1~Ilvity 111 liiti~ylor~ is
And this ra../oicail~g i r ~the str.t.ngtll it1111 sc.t.~~rity ol' 1 1 1 t h I'ou~~rlu-
very suggestive of t l ~ rn ~ l ~ u i l t l i rof ~ g tht. c.1111rc.11c ~ f t cthe ~
tion of our I~o)~t.u Iitlver t.i.iwrs. l'ri~ise i l t r l.o~.tl! \vc*ll.r up 1o11g ci~ptivity in BitI)ylor~the Orwt--\vl~l~.l~is gnler:llly
fro111evtbry Ilntrt tlrat reitlinc-s tl1t1 rc*tlt~u~l~tior~ t~c.c.o~ni~lislled know11 :IS the O r w t Iteforr~~ation. And truly t l i c ~ e11nsb~~err
by the ~ ~ r t r a i o ~I~loocl ls of ('Itlist, sherl for I L L ~ I I for I~ the a grent re-forn~ittion of the cllurch since t l l ~(lark itgCbS of
rc~~nissloi~ of SJIIS. 1'11o11 I l l i s S I I I - I ~ S U I I I I I I : I I ~ ~ I(111s
I II'IIIIIIR bontll~guuntlt*r thc1 p t ~ l ~yoke. i~l
' I ' l ~ t x work of rc~-forn~r~tIon llils gone stt.r~tlily I'orw:~rtl ;tr~A
struc.ture Ilils ~ N * ( ~ Ign1t111~1lIy
I : I I I I ~ stetk~litj~)rog~.(~sill:. Tile
l i ~ i t ~stones
g a r e taken out of the quiirry (tile ~ v o r l ~;l ):lnd like tliat of tlie typical te~lll~le, i n t h e n ~ i d s of
t tile grent oppo
by the esperiences a i ~ t l ~ d i s c . i ~ of ~ l ithe
~ ~ cI ~I I V S I ~ I I life
~ they sition. (See E z r a 4 :11-24; 5 :3-5; Nehemi:ll~ 4 : 7-23. anel
a r e dinlwd rurrl cliisrlrtl iultl ~)olisllr.tl iultl t111~rtitttql for conlptire STUI)~ES I N THE SC~RIPTVRKS, Vol. 11, C11:lpter ix
t1lttir 11111twsi l l the tc'~~tl>lt. \vl1i141,( i t ~ r i ~ ~ g ti1111. of the nntl Vol. 111, Chrtpter iv.) It'ron~ tile r n ~ ~ l t i t n t lwlro ~ ~ s hild
I)lrsst*i~ctb of (ht. I&rtl--vix., sil~c.c% ISiS, \\.III~II 111' tool( his ))the11 t~rt~111v~d 111td(*r tile j1111)tul rnlv SVIIII. o f tllc. liv111F:
grritt po\vri* 11s king-is I ~ c ~ i l~~oisc-lcssly
~g put tog~~tl~c*r, c~s stones of t h e t r u e t m ~ p l ewere gntl~eredout :rnd tile work
in tlte type, ~vi-tl~out tile soantl of ;I I~;tnl~ut~r--l~y tht* rc-sur- of setting them in order for t h e rebuilding of t h e New
rtuation of tilt* iler~din ( ' l ~ r i s ti111t1 tht. 1.1li111geof t h e living .Jerusnle~n rind its ternplr begtln. History records the op-
ill :I nlon~tmt.i r ~the t \ v i ~ ~ l r l of i ~ ~1111g +.ye; for "blc.sa~l :ire position mllich these re-forn~ers o r builders, encountered;
the clertrl \vi~o(lie in the 1,ord frotr~i11~11r.rlort11 [froill 1878 I ; ant1 truly, 81s in the t s l ~ e ," t l ~ ebuilders, every one hnd his
... they rest froill tllcbir Ii111ors Ifro111 tlrr toit L I I I ~\ve:~ri- sword [ t h e sword of t h e spirit, whic21i i s the Word of God]
Iless of Iitl~orl,but t l ~ e i rworks follow wit11 t l ~ r u ~ . "Tl16.y girded by his side, and so I~uildrcl." (Neheminl~4: 18) Nor
slli~llnot alt-ell, but they s l ~ i ~bth l l c.111111gc~cl i ~ t s t : u ~ t i ~ t ~ t ~ o tnltuy
~ s I ythis attitnde ever be relinqaished until t h e work i s a l l
fro811 t l ~ cIIIIIIIIIII
~ to 11 glorious s11irit11:tl I~ocly.-l:c~vc~l~~Iio~t c o l ~ l ~ ~ l nnd e t e tile glory of ttlc Irrnl llr~sfil11.tl his tvlnl111*.
-3-4 : 13 ; J C o r i n t l ~ i n ~ :1~ :s 51,5 2 9'11~l'llt'lll~1'8 of !Illb IrOl'll'~I I I Y I I I I I ~ IIIIII lht* IAII('I~'H \\'111'1< llr(?
nl\v:tss 81ctlve 111o p ~ ~ o n i t i ic~ltl o ~ ~ nolie
. the less so ~ 1 1 6 . 1 1 tl~cbir
THE CHURCH A TEMI'LE EVEN NOW 111et11oilsa r e subtle trnd t l ~ r ~course ir not easily cliscerr~ible.
I-Ic~ncet h e necessity exists for t.ontinued vigilance against
1;111\vllile the ellurc.11 gIorilit.11 wit11 ('llrist tllc. ILc-:ltl wilt every (~~icro:tc.ll~r~ent of thtb iltlvrly:lry, whether Ire conle @
be the t e ~ l ~ ycoi~iplete
le ~ I I I I ;I ~ i o r i o t ~its , i s in it 113~s I'OIIIIIIV~C u rourir~glion o r a s a wily sc*rptbnt.

BEREAN QUESTIONS ON ARTICLES IN TOWER FOR JUNE 15,1922

SEVENTY YEAItS' 1)ESOLATION (I'AIIT 11) 17. \\'lltlt c.rtn yon ~ullirnr bout prc*sc.t~t-trntl~
cl~ronology?
I. 1s it ~ I I ~ I ~ S ~ I ~ I Ior~ ~ I I; ~I II ~I I ~II*. \ I ~ ~ I I I ~ Ito 1'. lsi, 5.
I O i~~~ g r ~\\.it11
~t!
al~clentp~tgitnrtvor~!s? 1'. IS:;, 11 1. IS. Now \~-oultla drnrlge in t h e drites ilffect preseht-truth
2. \\'hitt slbirit pro~ltl)tetltllr c*h:u~yefn1111st&\ c.11t.y yr:lrsV P- 187, 7 6-
dcsolitlio~rto rwvt.l~ty~ ( ' ~ I I H .'L IS:!, 8 2.
t*i~j~li\.ity?
' I!). IIow would you sum up tire rcbitsons why ~)rc.sc.rrt-
3. IVlly r\re the llngiiil I~istoric~s bc~l'ol.c* l u ? cl~roaologyi s correct? 1'. 187, P 7-cud.
Ti:l(i 1:. (!. u ~ ~ r c ~ l i ; ~ l ~truth
P. 183, 7 3-5.
4. \\Tl~;rta r e tile facts about t l ~ ni~reii;tl~ilitve of llt~rotlotus THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL
nil11 other :~ltc.irr~t Greek l~islor.ii~rts? 1'. IS::, 7 I;-!). ~ r ?189, 7 l,2.
1. Wlio was H r l s l ~ i ~ z n ; 1'.
5. IIom relirtble ore tlie "i~\~tltoritirs"011 this period of ~ l .IN!), 7 3, 4.
2. Describe B i ~ l ~ y l o1'.
ancient I~istol:v?1 '. 153,7 10; 1'. 184, 7 1-3. 8. Coriltl the fttll ol' I:r111xlo11 11:tvc been postporled o r
G. Ilu\v 111ucl1 iltye~~lrcle~~ce ea11 be 1~1:lct~l011 L'tolr~~~y's averted? 1.' 189, 5.
~ l r l o l l ?1'. l<W,7 4. 4. 1tel:tte the c i r c u ~ n s t u ~ ~ ntter~tlir~p
ct~s the appellrance of
7. Illustrute tlte uncertainty of t h e history before 530 B. the htlntlwriting on t h e wall. P. 180, 7 0,7.
C. P. 184, 7 5, col. 2. 5. How (lid Daniel preserve his f r w ~ l o r nof speecll? P.
8. Can the i r ~ s c r ~ p t l o non s Asssritltr ilronul~rnitsIw rrt.lied 189, 7 8-10.
upon? W l ~ ynot? P. 185, 7 1-3. 8. 8 1 1 0 ~ tile manner of Daniel's ir~terpretution to t h e
'3. I-Iow ~~o111dyou describe the rontr:\st betwcvlr t h e king. .'k 190, 7 1,2.
monuti~ent:~l records rind David's record.;? 1'. 185, T[ 5-8. 7. Hot\- was t h e message written and what did the words
30:Did the pc~gari kings always tvll the t r i ~ t l i ill their mean? ID.190. 7 3,4.
n ~ o n ~ ~ n ~ r ni nt r~t ~l r i l ~ t i o 1'n. s ?I8.i. 1[ !)-I2: 1'. IS(;.ll 13. s d~itt?of this event? 1'. 190, 7 5,G.
5. \VII:I~ ~ v i ~the
11. Wlly iure tlie t~whreologistsu ~ ~ t r ~ t s t \ v o r l h LB. y ? IS(;, q 9. How tloes tlie handwriting corroborate the present-
6-8.
12. Does re1i:lnce on pagnn recortls :ttlswer ctonl~ts o r
t r u t h cl~ronology? P. 100, 7 6-8.
raise more donbta? P. 156, 7 9 , l O .
33. IVltnt i s till! (most to 81 c~or~scclutcvl
C l ~ r i s l l c tof
~ ~follow- "'1'111~ ' I ' I ~ l t l ~ l t cc11.1~t111.
~ 11:11j111t. H I O O ~ I 111 AIIIIII'U /\'III.,V 111t11 :
ills ~lllg~llt r(v*orlls? 1'. lN(l, 7 11. 1 11s vlorrl; 1111. HI;III of 1111tt111111111 ~ 1 ) 1 1 t: 111s I.III)I' 11 I I I ~ I ~ I : I ~ I1)1111
. ;
14. IVllnt c91roi1ologic:ll brltlgc*s render it nrhc.tllt.ss lo t l e l l i ~g:~rl):rt'o~ttld l r l ~xitrtb\v.v I + ) ~ I I s :I rit\v-lridt' 11elt t-ot~ti~l~tl :
Ifis 1l:lir 1111c1 i1r:lrd. like r:I\.thlll~lllftlr~s. N ~ I ' I ' : ~ I I I ( ' I ~ tlitl'li ilIo11y tlle ~virld;
pend on pt~giuirecords? 1'. 186, 7 12. A strotry :~c.:~c.i:~'s s1rik.v utt~tt~, sr.;trrf.st1rootl1w.11.\v:ls i r r Iris II:IIMI;
15. How does the l a w of probabilities help nialie prrsent- l I i n fret wert? fleslrlmc-, rnllo~rs. 1):rt.r. :rtrtl t:t\vr~y;ax ~ I I Psi~rrel:
t r ~ i t l lc~l~mnologya certainty? P. 187, 7 1. Ilis brow, n ~ o n r i ~CIVIC, ~ g n ' f . r l ~ ~ i l Ilis
~ g s!v:~rt : t ~ t dxIt:tg,'i'y(.I~e.*t;
16. IV11at three strong proofs a r e there of the truth of All11 'lre:~ihirs sll$tele3Iris e.Vf.3~ ~ P : I I I I PkI l~v t l f3:ic1f~s I'rotrt 1111,irnest.
Ile~rtotefro111cbourt~,corrtrptivn. criiclo, in tllttt lrigll U I I R ~ ~ I Iand, IP~~
the cl~ronology?P. 187, 1 24. Wit11 God aione, his soul had grown, to stature bold and grand."
 THE STRONG CABLE OF CHRONOLOGY

T H E ~vorldhas had nlany s ~ s t r n ~ofs chronology.

Among them were the syst(vns of Nt~bonasscr,
l\lacrtlon, Aicxancler, 'J'yre, liome, the Jews, Crea-
tion, L)iot lctian,' Christ, Armenia, l'ersia, the Hindu,
intrrnal connections of thc tl;~tcsimpart a much greater
strol~gthth:tn cnn 1)r fol~l~tl
i l l cttl~c~i.
c~li~.c~~~ctlogic~s.
.of tholn are of so rrmarl,al)lc a c.l~al.;~ctt~r
Sornc
i1s t*lo:~l'lyto
indicate that this chronology is not of Inall, but of ('rod.
and the Chinese, cnch counting from some natiohal Being of divine origin and divinely corroborated,
event ant1 corerillg certain eras. These systems may be present-truth chronology st:~r~tlsin a CIWS by itwblf,
likened to chains or to strings af brads, cwh date bring absolutely and ungu:llilirtlly correct.
a link: or unit in the whole. 'l'he relations erifiting
bctween the dates have been thnt each date has been INCONTESTABLY ESTABLISHED
so many years after the prrcrtlilig ant1 so nlaily years JVhen a date is intlicatcd by seve~.allines of c~itlcnce
bdore the succeeding dntcs. An crror in ally one of it is strongly est:ll)lis]lctl. 'l1lle s(bi(blltificIaw of prol~a-
these miits upsets either all previous dates or all or bilities imparts a unitctl strc~~gtl! to the strancis of the
some of the later ones. cable of chronology far grrat~vthan the s u n of the
h411chrcIi:~~lc*e is still ~)l:~r.cltl
by historirnl writrrs upon ir~tlivitlrlnl line8 OF evitl(wcc1. 'I'his is n I:tw ~\l~ic-ll is
POlll(b 01 t l l ( ~ 0
s ~ s ~ O ~ 'i'hc
N . c\lruilology of tllc Assyrian i1k11)licitlyrt~licdlllloll i l l ~lll~lt~lb~ill\t
i l l i ' t l i l ' ~ : Y~z., ( \ l i l t
ilations has been founclcd upon comparisons of events when a thing is indicatetl in orlly one it may be
with the so-called Canon of l'tol~my, which \\-as a string by chance; if it is indicated in two ways, it is aln~ost
of datcs which the Creel: historian arranged centuries certain to be true; and if in more than two nays, it is
aftcr the events, and which has been fount1 full of in- usllally impossibl~that it is by chance, or that it is not
accuracies. 'J'he Crrrelia every four years celebrated true; and the addition of morc proofs removes it en-.
athletic games called Olympiads, the succession and tirely from the realm of chai~ceinto that of proven
nun~herof which were quite faithfully preserved; and certainty.
events in Greek history were rkcortlcd as taking place This principle is applied daily in the ~vcighticst
in such an11 such an Olympiad, often with the ycar in matters in courts of law. The tcsti~nonyof a siligle
the Olympiad-first, second, third, or fourth-in which ~vitnessmay be colisidered doul)tfnl, but that of only
instances the date of an event, if correctly recorded in two or three nitncssrs incontcstahly csti11)li-hcs the
the a ~ ~ i histories,
e ~ ~ t can be rrlietl upon to a consider- truth. "In the n101lt11of t\vo or tl~rrc11 itl~ess('sshall
able extent. every word be established."-2 C'oril1thi;ins 13: 1.
OTHER SYSTCJlS ARE CHAINS, NOT CABLES I n the chronology of present trnth there are so many
Every chronology which consists of a mere string of inter-relationships among the clates that it is not a
dates is to be rrlicd upon only as rach successive tide mcre string of dntcs, not n cht~il~, 1)11t:L cnl~lnor slrn~lds
is correct. No ~ C I I O W I Is~('11Jar
~llr011010g~1 1 ; ~t ~l l ~elltire iirlnly knit together-a di vi l~t~ly 1111 i fiotl systc3111, I\. i 111
system firmly knit together by connecting-links between most of the dates having such rcmarliahle relations with
dates which are not succcssive. .Every chronology would others as to stamp. the system as not of human origin.
be immensely strengthened if it were possible to say The automobile and the law of gravitation are two
concerning each of the chief datcs that it was, for remarkable things. The one was invented by man; the
example, 1,000 years after another e;ent, 500 years other was discovered by man. Ifan invents man-made
after another, 200 years before another, and so on. Each things, but discovers divinely-created principles. Pres-
such line of evidence would tend to establish the more ent-truth chronology is not an invention; it is a dis-
firmly the correctness of the chief dates, and through covery. The various cliscovrrics, unite into a scirniifrc
them the intermediate ones. But such proofs of truth system of chronolqgy akin to the ~ystemsof science in
are lacking in the secular chronologies, and especially physics, chemistry, radiology, and astrono~ny.
in ~ e r i o d sof antiquity. All secular chronologies are 'yhe of chronology 1)ecomes \vortlly of the
mere Pesses when attempt to set (lntes for much close attclltion of able n~illtls,I)ec.:~l~sc it sul,ltlics tho
morc than a few hundrctl years before Christ. .data for a genuine philosophy of history. 'l'licre is a
The chronology of present truth is, to begin with, a science of history taught by able and highly educated
string of dates, like other chronologies. That is to say, professors in great universities, but in a vague and con-
the dates are each known to be so many years before fused manner; for it is the attempt to reduce to order
and after the succeeding and preceding dates, each step the utter confusion which demon control has made of
being proved by the most reliable evidence in existence. human affairs in this present evil world. If such men
But if this were all the proof of the trustworthiness of find the extremely obscure philosophy which they teach,
the chronology, it could not truthfully be claimed to and concerning which they write in tcxtl)oolrs, worthy of
be more reliable than are the secular chronologies. Thns a lifetime of study, how much morc worthy of attention
, far, it is a chain, and no stronger than its weakest Link. is the definite, clear-cut and truly scientific philosophy
There exist, however, well established relationships of history discernible in the chronological system of
among the dates of present-truth chronology. These divine truth.
217
 -
This genuine philosophy of history would now be
WATCH TOWER
taught in the institutions of higher education were it
or recognized, even after they have been fulfilled, with-
out divine guidance and the unction of the holy spirit
not for the fact that these institutions are dominated. of God. Of this the Word of God says: "He giveth
by the spirit of the evil one. It is aptly said by President wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know
David Starr Jordan, of Leland Stanford University, understanding : he revealeth the deep and secret things" ;
that education today is throttled'by the hand of the and, "It is not for you [now] to know [all] the times
dead past-i. e.. by the tradition and influence of the or the seasons, which the Fathcr hat11 put in his own
dark ages of ;;norance, superstition, apostasy, and power. But ye shall receive power [to linow] after the
demouisni. T i e institutions of the past are perpetuated Holy Spirit is come upon you"; and "Of the times and
today in the unhallowed alliance of business, state and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write 11nto
church; and it would not be to their interest to have you. For yourselves know perfectly. ... Ye, brc~tll~.c~~,
the truth known, because it condemns this alliance. are not in darkness, that that day should overtake ~ o u
Light, however, is breaking in upon even the be- as a thief. Ye are all children of light [wisdom],
nighted centers of "higher" learning, and is causing the and the children of the day."-Daniel 2 : 21, 22 ; Acts
abandonnlent of ancient notions in scientific lines, such 1: 7, 8 ; 1 Tllcssalonians 5 : 1-5.
as chemistry, physics, and astronomy, where the dis- Tllerefore i t would be impossible for a natural inan,
coveries of the learned Hebrew, Einstein, and of other or even a spirit being; be he an angel or a devil, to know
progressive scientists, have rendered impossible the re- in advance all the appointed times I\-hich the Father
tentian of ideas that constituted what was considered has kept secret from all except his begotten and anointed
advanced scientific ground only a few years ago. When children. "The prophets have inquired and searched
the political and economic power of the unholy alliance diligently. . . .searching what, or what manner of time,
is finally broken, as it will be in the near future, it will the Spirit of God which tvas i n then1 did signify.. .
be possible for truth to have a hearing, and in many which things the angels desire to look into." (1 Petrr
directions the allcged wisdom of men will be widely 1: 10-12) Espcciully tvoulcl it bo beyolid tllc boulldu
laown to have been mere foolishuess. "Hat11 not God of possibility for the evil one to discern in advance the
..
made foolish the wisdom of this world?. The wisdom dates, ages, and marvelous connecting links of the trne
of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, chronology; for these, when disclosed by God, are to he
He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. And again, known first oilly by the true church, to \\lion1 Got1 has
The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they given of his spirit. (Ephesians 3 : 10 ; Hevelation 1: 4)
are vain [empty, profitless]."-1 Corinthians 1:20; The demons occasionally may make shrewd guesses as
3 : 19,20. to events to come within a brief future; but it is
PROOF O F IPIVINE ORIGIN entirely beyot~tltheir power to scc such matters fitr in
It will be clearly shown that present-truth chronology advaiice, except as distinctly revealed by God through
displays indisputable evidence of divine foreknowledge the church. Sstrologers sometimes malre predictions
of the principle dates, and that this is proof of divine as to coming erents; but when these predictions prove
origin, and that the system is not a human inventiw to be correct, it is found that they have -previously brcn
but a discovery of divine truth. discussed or puLblished among the Lord's people. The
The proof resides in the many connecting inter-re- annual forecasts of prominent seeresses are demonstrated
lationships among the dates. Without these relations to be woefully poor guesses, when checked up at the
the chronology would not differ from secular systems, end of the periods covered. If the- devil, "the strong
but with them we believe that it bears the stamp of man," had known when Christ was coming ta bind hirn
approval of Almighty God. and spoil his organization, he wouId have been prepared
Jehovah had outlined the times and seasons of things for the event. But he was not prepared; and now his
to come, and had them recorded ages in advance. H e affairs are being rapidly overturned, because he coultl
says: 'Who, as I, shall .call, and shall declare it, and set not know beforehand the divinely appointed time of
it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people? something so important to him.-Ifark 3: 27.
and the things that are coming, and shall cope, let
FOREKNOWLEDGE IN CHRONOLOGY
them shew unto them." Through the prophet Daniel,
Jehovah declared by the voice of an angel: ''Echold, I If in a system of chronology there can be shown to
will make thee know what shall be in the last end of have been a foreknowledge of coming events and seasons,
the indignation : for a t t h e t i m e appointed the end shall it must be conceded to have been of divine origin. This
be." H e said again through Daniel: "A thing was re- can be shown to be true of present-truth chronology
..
vealed unto Daniel. and the thing was true, but t h e alone, which stamps it as of heavenly origin.
t i m e appointed was long"; and "It is yet for a t i m e ap- I n the true chronology the Irlariy 'connecting stra~lds
.
pointed.. .that that is determined shall be done.')- are proof of the fact that God foreknew the dates and
Isaiah 44 : 7 ; Danicl 8 : 19 ; 10 : 1; 11: 35, 36. the events so interwoven with one another.
These appointed times and seasons are in the power Many of the intcr-relations of dates are what arc
of Jehovah alone. They may not be ascertained, Lnown termed pamllelisms.
 *WATCH TOWER
Parallel dates are two series of dates a certain number one had occurred in china and the other in America,
of ycars apart, and marked by cvcnbs of corrcsponding it would bc nothing noticcablc; but i t bccoltlcss note-
character. The intervening period is usually some worthy that one was in nominal natural Isrncl alld tha
significant number of years, such as 1845 or 2520. The other in nominal spiritual Israel, and that the first is
connected events are al~vaysprominent and readily dis- plainly the type of the second.
cerned. Parallclisn~sof this naturc arc pro01 of ilivirie origir~
The number 1845 is significant because it is the of present-truth chronology, because they show fore-
number of years in the parallel Jewish and gospel knowledge. I n the instance cited, the division of I s r ~ c l
ages. It was 1845 years from the death of Jacob in and that of Christendom, 2520 years apart, are evitlrl~ce
1813 13. C. (probably Fall) to the delrth of Jesus in that when the first division was pcnnittt.d, thc lnttrr
33 A. D. (Spring). Important events which took place one was foreknown. This is true bccausc of thc rc1:ltiuii-
in the gospel age, and which were preceded by similar ship between the two events as rcgards both th:c ant!
events 1845 years before, in the Jewish age, occur a t nature.
corresponding times in the two ngcs. If the two ages When it is fo1111d that thcre is a scrics or sygtc~nof
\Irerelaid one lipon the otlicar, all tlre parallel dates would parallel dates composed of pairs of clatcs 2520 ycars
coincide in position. apart, the foreknowledge becomes obvious. It would
The second fall of the Jewish civilization, beginning be absurd to claim that the relationship discovered was
in 69 A. I)., is a parallel of the beginning of the fall not the result of divine arrangement. God alone has
of the Christian civilization in 1914; for the events such foreknowledge, and this proves that he so overruled
are 1845 years apart and are alike prominent and times and events that they should be linit togt.ther into
readily discernible. a beautiful and harmonious whole too sublitne to be the
It is not so well known that thcre are other corres- .result of chance or of human invention.
-
ponding events on parallel dates 2620 ycws apart, mak- "Let them bring forth, and shcw us nlint shall
ing a series or system of parallelisms. The "times of happen," says Jehovah; "let them shew [even] the
the gentiles" are known to all Bible students (Daniel former things [historical events which have becolnc lost
4: 16,23,25, 32), as marked by the fall of Jerusalem at to human knowledge], what they be, that we may con-
the beginning (GO6 B. C.), and by the beginning of the sirlrr thrm, and lmow the latter m d of tllrm ; or tl(lc.l:~rc
fall of Christendom at the close (1914 A. D.). These us things to come. Sliem us the tliiligs that are to
took place 2520 years apart, and are parallel events on come hereafter, that n.e may know that ye are god.. . ..
parallel dates. Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: an
The division of tFe Hebrew nation, for example, into abomination is he that chooscth you." "I nm Gotl, and
two kingdoms, Judah the two t r i b c ~and Israel the ten tlierc is none like me, dcclaring the end fro111 thc bc-
tribes, is an event corresponding to the division of ginning, and from ancient times the things that are not
Christendom into two great religious dominions, Pro- yet done."-Isaiah 41 : 22-24 ; 46 9,lO.
testantism the smaller and purer, and Romanism the Thosc that follow Jehovah's chronology nrr tnnni-
larger and lnorc corrupt. 'J'lle first was in 999 B. C. and fcstly his people; for, said Jesus Christ, "'l'he Spirit
.
tllc second in 1521 A. D., just 2520 years apart. That of truth. . will guide you into all truth; he will shew
there should be two such similar events is nothing yo" things to come"; and "The revelation of Jesus
remarkable; but it is extraordinary that they should Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his
take place just 2520 years apart, when it is known that servants things which must shortly ,come to pass."-
the times of the gentiles are a period of 2520 years. If John 16 :13;Revelation 1:1.

IDENTIFICATION CERTIFICATES

I T WILL be necessary for those attending the Cedar

Point Convention to have an identification certif-
icate to present to the local ticket-agent when pur-
chasing their tickets; for without such a certificate it
ask for an identification certificate. IVe will mail these
certificates to ell friencb applying for them; but we
must first I;uoa, in anlple time, to whom we are to mail
thrm.
will be impossible to secure the reduced transportation In the case of a falllily it is not necessary to have a
rate of a fare and a half. Ticket agents are instructed separattc certificate for each member; for one certificate
by the railway companics to allow the special rate only will answrr for nll the family, proviilcd tllcy all pnrchaso
in cmcs whcrc a ccrtificatct itlcntifics tho pnrty as one tllrir ticl<eta nt tlic ~trtrlctime nt t l ~ csnlno station. If,
entitled to the rate because of their going to the Con- . for example, a family of five is going, and three are to
vention at Cedar Point, Ohio. get their tickets together and the other two together at
We desire to know as soon as possible horn many ill another Eme, then two certificates are necessary, one for
attend the convention. Therefore we request every one the group of three, onc for tlic group of tn-o. If one
who is ilitcnding to go, to write us to that ellcti, and member of the family has to purchase his ticket alone,